• Little tern colonies are widely but patchily distributed around the UK coast, with East Anglia being an important stronghold (Table 1). The area where the Little Tern colony is on the beach at Winterton. Found primarily on the coastline, birds can be seen on beaches of western and southeastern Scotland, north Wales, south and eastern England, and the west and east coasts of Ireland. They lay their eggs in nests on the ground and can be … Denbighshire Countryside Service are working with North Wales Police to prevent further quad bike damage to the Little Tern colony." The Little Tern colony will continue to be monitored with a staff presence throughout the season, which runs from May to late July. A colony of one of the country’s rarest seabirds has had its most successful season for more than 25 years, the National Trust has said. The little tern breeds in colonies on gravel or shingle coasts and islands. A colony of one of the country’s rarest seabirds has had its most successful season for more than 25 years, the National Trust has said. Suffolk has lost a staggering 88% of its breeding little terns in the last two decades. This has meant that protection of the little tern colonies has been dependent to a greater or lesser extent on the hard work and dedication of local volunteer wardens for the duration of the breeding season. The little tern population has been in decline since the 1980s Credit: National Trust/Ian Ward. Gronant is one of the largest Little Tern colonies in the British Isles and consistently one of the most productive - in terms of the number of fledglings it was the second best colony in 2016. They are Europes smallest tern and rarest breeding seabird, and the most threatened of the three terns breeding in Norfolk. LIFE Little Terns - Improving the conservation status of the little tern in the UK through targeted action at the most important colonies LIFE12 NAT/UK/000869 Project description Environmental issues Beneficiaries Administrative data ... colonies. 2004, Brown & Grice 2005). Great Yarmouth Little Tern Colony Detailed accounts of the history of the Little Tern colony at Great Yarmouth are provided by Allard (Allard, 1990) and also by (Brown & Grice, 2005), who compare the numbers of nesting terns in each year with other major colonies. Trend in UK productivity (no. Little terns set up their colonies on beaches with a mix of shingle, pebble and sand, grassy vegetation, and nearby clear water with a supply of sprats, herring, sand eels and crustaceans. Little terns are the second-rarest seabird that breeds in the UK. The largest colonies are in England. The little tern recovery project is a five-year project funded by Life+ Nature and led by RSPB. It is hard to imagine now that little terns could have ceased visiting Dorset altogether, and it is thanks to careful conservation management techniques introduced by the RSPB and the partnership project that Chesil Beach is now one of the most successful little tern colonies in the UK, increasing in size and productivity all the time. While the core colonies of this species in Ireland and the UK are growing, it’s essential to think about the long-term future of the species and helping expand their range. They are grey and white with a black cap and a distinctive white forehead and yellow, black-tipped beak. Little Tern: Summer breeder in the UK. They migrate to Africa for the winter and return to the Northumberland coast to breed each spring. The east Norfolk colonies last year managed to see 300-400 little tern chicks take flight, making up 25% of the total number of little tern chicks in the UK. Little tern colonies in the UK have previously been found to have two distinct regional groupings that differ significantly in their breeding success trends. The total UK population is estimated to be less than 2 … The little tern Sternula albifrons is one of Britain’s rarest breeding seabirds and is the smallest tern nesting in the UK. Nesting pairs of little terns fledged more than 200 chicks at Blakeney Point (Andrew Capell/National Trust/PA) A colony of one of the country’s rarest … There were no records of Little Terns nesting in the area until the second world-war. Nesting pairs of little terns fledged more than 200 chicks at Blakeney Point, a four-mile shingle spit off the north … The breeding population size of little tern in Great Britain was estimated at 1,900 pairs and that in Ireland at 210 (Mitchell et al 2004). Based on SMP data; view the methods of analysis.. The recovery project closely monitors twenty sites around the UK, collecting breeding, feeding and population data, and keeping birds safe. East Norfolk have been doing their bit to maintain numbers and little terns remain a feature of our coasts, yet the UK little tern population has declined by 23% in the last four years. The birds stay from April through August. The UK's largest little tern colonies are found along the south and east coasts of both Scotland and England. The r oseate tern is the rarest breeding seabird in the UK with only 13 1 pairs recorded in 2020. Little tern. The Norfolk coast is a stronghold for little terns, supporting at least a third of the UK … “Improving the conservation status of the Little tern in the UK through targeted action at the most important colonies.” EU LIFE Little tern Recovery Project statement. Enhanced management and habitat restoration/creation will be carried out at 20 sites identified as containing important UK colonies. Danny Hercock, RSPB senior little tern warden said: “Since the storm surge and floods in December, we may see little terns return to North Denes in the short term … The success here comes against a backdrop of complete nest failure at some other Little Tern colonies around the Irish Sea, which may account for the huge count of … This is where the Western Solent is important. Even with wardening and electric fences complete failures at Little Tern colonies are not uncommon due to predation and also flooding where most Little Tern nests are within 1.5m of the high water mark. In winter, it is home to up to 700 Avocets Recurvirostra avosetta, over … Nesting pairs of little terns fledged more than 200 chicks at Blakeney Point, a four-mile shingle spit off the north … It feeds just offshore, hovering above the water before diving in to catch its prey of small fish. Like all white terns, it is defensive of its nest and young and will attack intruders. Living up to its name, the little tern is the UK's smallest tern and can be seen nesting on gravelly beaches in small colonies. Although productivity was low in two years in the late 1980s when the population was declining, the number of chicks fledged in UK roseate tern colonies has generally been moderate to high throughout the reporting period. It lays two to four eggs on the ground. Its distribution is wide within the UK but with a concentration of larger colonies in S and SE England and none in the far SW of England and most of Wales. Little terns You can identify little terns by their daintiness, small size and their black-tipped yellow bills. • National censuses show that the population in Britain declined by c. 25% between the mid-1980s and 2002 The five-year project is an 11-organisation partnership working together to ensure the little tern’s long-term future. Figure 2. Little Terns are one of the UK’s rarest seabirds, and rely heavily on the east Norfolk coast which supports around 20% of the national population. Where to see: Coquet Island; The Skerries; RSPB Pagham Harbour, West Sussex. Little terns winter in West Africa, and return to UK shores in April each year to breed. of chicks fledged per pair) of roseate tern 1987–2018. A couple of articles have also been written in the local press and online. Clay decoys, few predators and a stroke of luck have helped a little tern colony in North Norfolk record its most successful breeding season in more … Methods of analysis five-year project funded by Life+ Nature and led by RSPB the methods of..... May to late July fish, usually from saline environments tern ’ s long-term future seabird, and little winter., usually from saline environments they migrate to Africa for the winter in Africa where colonies widely. Colony will continue to be monitored with a black cap and a distinctive forehead. 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