Surfbirds News

The final tally of 156 young little terns produced at the little tern colony at North Denes beach meant many nesting birds overcame the hazards of poor summer weather.

Little Tern, Suffolk, © Robert Wincup

One of Britain's scarcest seabirds, the little terns had their usual helping hand from the RSPB, Natural England and Great Yarmouth Borough Council, whose joint project protected the little terns from disturbance and predation.

There was a peak nest count of 276 nests, so an average of a little over half a chick per pair fledged successfully. Some nests were lost to high tides and foxes, related in part to the untypical weather. Predation from kestrels was at a low level, like last year.

The cold and wet summer also meant fewer people came to see the birds than usual, though those that did come – including six school groups and Great Yarmouth MP Tony Wright – enjoyed good views of the terns set against the contrasting back-drop of Yarmouth's Golden Mile.

During late May and June, there were also up to 83 pairs of little terns at Winterton Dunes National Nature Reserve, but these were unsuccessful and many birds appeared to move to Great Yarmouth North Denes.

This year's fair results follow last year's count of 673 fledglings – young birds that successfully flew – from 369 nests. That was the highest number in 22 years of the protection scheme, one of the biggest colonies of little terns in Europe.

Mark Smart, site manager of the RSPB's Berney Marshes nature reserve and little tern project manager said, 'We are really pleased that the little terns had a successful breeding season here, especially following last year's bumper season. We have our ups and downs, but over two decades the Great Yarmouth colony is a long-running success story – thanks to a dedicated team of RSPB staff and volunteers.

Mark Smart continued: 'However really little terns should be nesting in small numbers all along our sandy coasts. So although we're pleased with how they are doing at Great Yarmouth, it's also a pity that the national population is so reliant on this one big site.'