Conservation efforts have led to a remarkable comeback of sandwich terns on the south coast of England, three years after an outbreak of avian flu decimated their population. Currently, the number of these birds has risen from none to 756. Alongside sandwich terns, other species such as little terns, ringed plovers, black-headed gulls, and oystercatchers have also seen population increases, credited to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).
Wez Smith, a senior project manager at the RSPB, noted that in 2022, sandwich terns as well as black-headed gulls and Mediterranean gulls faced heavy losses due to highly pathogenic avian influenza, which forced them to abandon their breeding colony at Pagham Harbor. He mentioned that several years of focused conservation work have begun to yield positive results, with the site now enjoying record-high populations of these birds.
The Pagham colony is part of a larger conservation area spanning 128,000 acres along Britain’s Channel coastline, which includes efforts from both the RSPB and local volunteers. According to The Guardian, conservation activities include erecting predator-proof fencing to safeguard ground-nesting birds, monitoring for rats, and selectively removing vegetation to promote nesting.
Additionally, volunteers and rangers have been conducting patrols to educate visitors and locals about the sensitivity of ground-nesting birds to disturbances. They have also set up dog-friendly areas away from nesting sites. These initiatives are part of the Solent Seascape project, which aims to restore various habitats in the Solent, an estuarine system located between the Isle of Wight and the mainland of England.
What do you think about these conservation efforts and their impact on bird populations?
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Source: Good News Network, by Andy Corbley