Natural England

Record numbers of little terns – one of Britain’s rarest seabirds - have fledged at Natural England’s remote Scolt Head Island National Nature Reserve near Brancaster. This year 160 pairs of adults nested and fledged 200 young in the reserve’s best year since records began in 1923.

Natural England’s senior reserve manager Michael Rooney puts the success down to the remote wildness of the reserve and a combination of critical factors including plentiful food and relatively calm weather. The 727 ha sand dune, beach and saltmarsh island is owned jointly by The National Trust and Norfolk Wildlife Trust and has been a nature reserve since 1923.

“Little terns nest in precarious shallow scrapes on the shingle, quite low down the beach. Because of this they are very prone to being washed away in storms and high tide. This beautiful remote island offers the peace and quiet they need to breed without disturbance. Careful wardening by our two summer wardens and vigilant predator control has paid off with our best year ever for fledged chicks,” explained Michael Rooney.

The little tern is a summer visitor to Britain and the beaches of Norfolk provide favoured breeding grounds for the birds. However they like to nest on the shoreline of popular beaches such as Great Yarmouth, where Natural England worked with the RSPB this year to fence off the colony on North Denes beach in May to ensure breeding success.

Just how the birds locate their highly camouflaged eggs in nests that are no more than rough scrapes of sand, amongst millions of similarly coloured pebbles is just one puzzle. And looking at a fluffy grey nestling scrabbling around in the sand, you can but marvel at the fact that it is just weeks away from having to make a solo flight to West Africa, where little terns spend the winter months.

Notes for editors:
Natural England works for people, places and nature to conserve and enhance biodiversity, landscapes and wildlife in rural, urban, coastal and marine areas. We conserve and enhance the natural environment for its intrinsic value, the wellbeing and enjoyment of people, and the economic prosperity it brings.

A key calculation is the number of young fledged per pair or ‘productivity’. These long-lived birds need to produce an average of about 0.65 young per pair for the population to remain stable. In Britain and across Europe in recent years, little terns have failed to reach this level and numbers are therefore declining. In this context this year’s result for Scolt Head Island National Nature Reserve is 1.21 so this makes up in part for losses elsewhere on beaches disturbed by people, predators or high tides.

Little terns are Britain’s second rarest tern, with 2,000 breeding pairs in the UK each year – the roseate tern is the rarest. The breeding season has now ended and many of the birds have already left the ternery.

For further information contact: Linzee Kottman on 01223 533431/07824475359 linzee.j.kottman@naturalengland.org.uk or Heather McMorland on 01733 455080 or 07919 228388. Out of hours 07970 098005.

For further information about Natural England please visit: www.naturalengland.org.uk