Guest blog by Jesse Timberlake, Suffolk Little Tern Warden
10…20…30...40... As I peered through the scope and slowly scanned the beach ahead of me looking for the little terns nesting on the shingle, I could not believe how many there were. Their tail feathers pointing up at an angle, a tale-tale sign of an adult sitting on eggs, and every few minutes a dutiful partner flies back with a sandeel or sprat in its beak. Last year not one little tern nested here, but now I was staring at almost 60 nests on this small piece of shingle squashed between the sea on one side, and a freshwater broad on the other.
Not only were there many little tern nests, but oystercatcher, ringed plover and avocet nests, with a few avocet chicks running around looking like balls of fluff on stilts. It goes to show just how rich in wildlife this part of the Suffolk Coast is, to have so many rare and threatened birds nesting on one small patch of beach is thrilling.
Little tern eggs camouflaged in the shingle
Over the last two weeks I have been amazed and excited by the number of new nests being built inside our little tern colonies along the Suffolk coast. This time last year we had around 20 nests throughout all of Suffolk. Yet as we finish our big June counts, we have discovered around 60 nests at each of the Kessingland and Benacre colonies, with more at scattered sites further south. Our excitement mounted over the last two weeks as progressive nest counts kept rising higher and higher, surpassing the numbers for last year very quickly.
Much thanks goes to the partner organisations and volunteers that have helped put up these fenced colonies; fences that go a long way in reducing predation and disturbance, and giving these birds a chance to breed and nest in peace.
Volunteers checking the beach for little tern nests
Here at Minsmere, a few little terns have been seen on the Scrape, but there's no nesting activity yet. We may have to wait a bit longer until we see little tern chicks again here. But with the numbers of birds increasing at nearby sites, that might happen sooner than we think.
Our work to help little terns in Suffolk is part of a national little tern programme funded by EU LIFE+.