Over the last month, we've been finishing up our tern habitat work and watching the Black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls get re-acquainted with each other and start to build nests. Everything has been on schedule (if not early) for the season ahead and as expected, sandwich terns have now started arriving and building in numbers within the two harbours.
Above: A late March view inside the gull colony.
You can imagine then, when on Easter Monday, Storm Katie arrived, she was not well received. As well as scattering a large number of boats across the Solent and doing damage to infrastructure, the storm surge was higher than any that we've seen here since the Valentine Storm of 2014. Sadly, all of the nesting areas succumbed to the gale driven tide and the gulls that had already started building nests had no choice but to abandon them as they washed away. At the same time, there has been a large movement of shingle with some areas having rolled back over a metre.
Above: A new shingle layout post Katie for the tern nesting site. Before Easter Monday, the shingle ended in front of the signage.
As it is still very early in the breeding season, with no confirmed eggs having been laid in the gull colony yet and only a handful of terns having arrived back, this shouldn't be a major problem for any of the summer resident seabird species. It has however led to a loss of effort and time for the Black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls as they endeavor to rebuild nests before eggs are ready to lay (very soon). Likewise, our own preparations for the season ahead have taken a knock with much work now needing to be either repeated or adjusted. For example, in order to protect the nesting terns from mammalian predation, we erect an electric fence around some parts of the colony each year. Having almost completed this task, we now need to re-align it in order to cover the new habitat layout. As the little terns are expected back within the next 11 days, there's no time to waste! The next two weeks are going to be pretty manic for us.
The storm has also deposited a new line of seaborne plastic debris along the coast. I'd like to thank The Conservation Volunteers for offering their help removing this build up and for the day they spent with me recently at the Hayling Oysterbeds removing as much as possible. Despite over 30 person hours already being spent on the task, it will sadly always need doing as each tide brings in a grim harvest of debris.
Above: Thank you TCV, your help in tidying the place us has been really appreciated.
Above: A mass of debris mixed in with seaweed on the shoreline, with the Oysterbeds and a nesting site for gulls/terns behind.
Finally, we have had some very calm weather either side of Easter, resulting in some amazingly views around the eastern Solent. If I can just ask one favour...no more major storms now until July, please.
Above: Langstone Harbour, the reserve islands and Portsmouth at dusk.