As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Sunday 7 September 2014

Rare little terns site at Gronant sees 77 chicks fledge

5 September 2014 Last updated at 11:36

A rare seabird colony on a north Wales beach has seen its highest number of chicks for four years.

A little tern feeding its chickThe sand and shingle dunes at the Gronant on the Dee Estuary host Wales' only breeding colony of little terns.
The site, near Prestatyn, produced 77 fledglings from 128 pairs this year, the most since 2010.

Denbighshire council said increased volunteer warden patrols had helped keep down human disturbance and predators such as foxes and kestrels.

The birds, which feed on sand eels, make the 4,000-mile (6,500 km) trip from west Africa in order to nest on the shingle ridge, amongst the sand dunes in Gronant.

A five-year EU partnership aims to make sure the bird has a long-term recovery in Wales.

Two years ago Denbighshire council put up a one-and-a-half mile (2.5 km) fence which is electrified at night to protect the birds from foxes.

In addition to natural predators, the birds also face loss of habitat through development as well as winter storms.

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