Does anyone know how the little terns have fared at Crimdon this year?
I know it's late in the season but I called by today and, apart from one or two passing over the sea, I didn't see a single little tern - not even any juvs on the beach.
On the other hand, the common terns seem to be doing very well at teesmouth - there are still many many birds present at the various sites and still feeding chicks (some still appeared to be sitting on eggs)!
I talked to the warden week before last and he said they were very disappointed about the number of young they had lost. He blamed the sparrow hawk and kestrel but thought the persistent cold winds from the north and the downpours also contributed.
After reading your reply, Renton, I did a bit of on-line research and found the following on the INCA website - total failure of the colony it would seem which explains the complete lack of birds yesterday - very bad news indeed!
A DISASTROUS YEAR FOR THE CRIMDON LITTLE TERNS
After a record breaking success in 2011 with nearly 150 chicks produced from 64 pairs of nesting birds 2012 started looking very good.
At the end of May over 60 pairs were sitting on eggs. High tides at the beginning of June did not strike us as they did the two colonies to the north. Some of the Lindisfarne and Long Nanny birds relocated to join our colony for a second attempt and by the second week in June we had a record 110 pairs sitting on the beach. That is when things took a turn for the worse.
As soon as chicks started to appear so did the kestrel, possibly the very same bird as devastated the colony two years ago. Chicks did not survive on the beach more than a day or two. To add insult a sparrow hawk appeared and started taking adult birds and between the two the colony became mayhem. By the end of June terns started abandoning leaving eggs and chicks behind. Crows walked freely though the colony by the first week in July cleaning up the abandoned eggs without being mobbed.
At this point in early July it looks like there will be no chicks surviving to fly out to Africa from our colony