The Tern chicks are still alive. In fact more than just alive, they appear to be doing really well but I won’t use the word thriving. Every day I go out to the island, I presume the worse, an abandoned colony, parents absent and activity all but over. However, this has so far (touch wood) not been the case. Watching the colony for just five minutes will normally bring a sighting of a chick and once you get your eye in its actually possible to see several, they are marvellously camouflaged, from a distance seeming like a stone or part of the vegetation. Its only when they move that they can be spotted, normally the parent coming in will provoke activity but they can also be inquisitive little things often exploring their surroundings or preening.
Just having 25 pairs of Terns around is incredible; they are an almost constant source of activity and vibrancy. Terns, whether it is they way they fly or the sounds they make, they really bring a seabird colony alive.
Anyway, some photos of the newly hatched chicks can be found below. Having watched them closely from egg stage to their current stage it’s hard not to feel personally involved. However, one tries to maintain an impartial point of view but anyone who has worked with Terns will know how easy it is to grow attached to them. That’s one of the pleasures of working with a species where the chicks are so accessible and both chick and parent are full of character.
My concerns still exist; it’s very late almost too late for them to be successful. I have no idea if suitable prey will be available for the duration of the nesting period. So far, food appears to be coming in at reasonably regular rate, with small to good sized Sandeels coming into the colony and the chicks do appear to be growing. Predation is an issue as always but seems to have slackened off dramatically in the last couple of weeks, the Magpies and Crows seem to have lost interest. The Gulls appear to have stopped predating; if an errant “large” gull does wander over the colony then the Terns are in full aggression mode and quickly chase it off.
So, no complaints so far.
The Terns on Cottage flood which are about a week behind those on Cottage flood are still on eggs. A quick check off the colony yesterday revealed that they where no hatchings or young chicks yet. Again, the same issues exist with this colony only exacerbated by the fact that they are a week later. The Terns whilst firmly bonded to their nests must be growing increasingly apathetic and this is what truly worries me, I genuinely cannot see the Terns still being here feeding chicks into early September but we shall see what the next couple of weeks brings.
I now have two days off the Island and its a crucial period. Again I shall wonder when I turn up on Friday what will have happened to them, if any survive if the parents are still interested. A big storm or an unsettled spell could spell the end of the colony for another year.
However, recently despite myself, I have begun to wonder what the latest fledgling date for Common Terns is. If the ones on Cottage flood where to get to fledgling stage then I believe that they might well be contenders for this crown.