Guest blog by Rhiannon Barker - Little Tern Project Officer, Suffolk
Apologies for the Little Tern pun, but we have had lots of Little Tern activity at our colony this week since the recent spell of hot weather started.
The courtship displays of the Little Terns are being seen regularly by our Volunteer Little Tern Wardens that help look after the site; the Little Tern males do a little dance around the females with fish, before handing the fish over to the females as the courtship is completed.
These elegant birds migrate all the way from the coast of West Africa to the Suffolk coast to raise their young and are real delight to see. The Little Tern population is in decline so the Little Tern Wardens do their upmost to keep the breeding population going year on year and I have to say they are doing a fantastic job this year. We have also seen some other visitors on the shoreline at Kessingland this week including an Avocet, a Black-tailed Godwit, Dunlin and Sanderling.
There have also been some Common Terns passing by the colony offshore. Common Terns and Sandwich Terns can be seen nesting on the Scrapes at Minsmere along with many other waders and wildfowl.