We've now reached that point in the year where the islands of Langstone Harbour have once again fallen relatively quiet apart from the sound of Curlews and the lapping of the waves. The majority of the breeding seabirds on the harbour islands have been leaving over the past few weeks before a full exodus took place at the end of July. The colonies are now empty apart from the fragments of this years eggshells and the remains of nests slowly being entwined with the wildflowers and plants of late summer.
In this inaugural year of the Helping Havants Little Terns project, despite some great successes, I'm afraid our local colony has once again not managed to fledge any youngsters. The reasons are not as clear cut as before and are still being examined but at present appear to be part of a much wider pattern among Tern colonies this season.
We can however take comfort in the fact that conditions in Langstone harbour are being improved by the conservation work carried out. In particular, the new shingle area on South Binness attracted the majority of this years nesting birds and the nesting area has remained safe from the tide all year.
The Little Terns began breeding later than normal this year and also produced much smaller clutches of eggs. Typically you would expect a healthy well fed Little Tern to lay 2-3 eggs. This season in the harbour however, two thirds of the nesting pairs had just 1 egg with the other third having 2 (and only two nests holding 3 eggs). It is impossible at this stage to give a definitive reason as to why this was the case but one possibility (out of many) is a lack of food or opportunity to feed over the winter period on the West African coast. Sadly, once the colony had settled back in Langstone, it only managed to survive for 2-3 weeks.
(A clutch of two eggs from this years Little Tern colony. Only two pairs of birds managed to lay 3 eggs)
Although distressing for the birds (and sad for us), this does occasionally happen due to weather events or other causes. RSPB specialists will be looking into this once the results from all the Little Tern colonies are submitted and in time will hopefully be able to identify it's cause. Due to the longevity of seabirds, a one year loss of breeding success isn't a major concern although it grows more worrying with each passing year.
In the meantime, with your help, we will carry on with our essential work here knowing that with our hard work and planning, we're giving this unique species the best chance it possibly could have. There is a lot of work planned between now and the next breeding season, all of it focused on securing this colony for generations to come, ours and theirs.
We'd love you to get involved, so get in touch!
Wez, (Wez.Smith@rspb.org.uk)