Wednesday, 26 September 2018

A record year for Denbighshire's terns ... but will the picture be so rosy after Brexit?



Bird Notes columnist Julian Hughes of RSPB Cymru reveals what birds have been spotted in the past week and lists some upcoming birding events
By
Andrew Forgrave Rural Affairs Editor
23:40, 17 SEP 2018
Supporters of Wales’ only nesting colony of Little Terns are celebrating another successful breeding season under the watch of wardens from Denbighshire County Council .
Despite 89 nests being lost to Storm Hector’s metre-high tidal surge in June, a record 171 pairs reared 192 young on the beach at Gronant .
Wardens saved 27 nests from the waves by moving nests up the beach, and numbers were boosted by influx of birds whose nests failed in Ireland, Cumbria and the Isle of Man.
Every year since 2014 each pair has fledged a chick, enough to grow the population, making Gronant the second biggest Little Tern colony in Britain & Ireland.
Wardens have witnessed some chicks refusing food, an indication of good supplies of small fish offshore.


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