Blog

12/06/2023

59 Nests So Far!

Hey all, Nina here, back again with a Little Tern update. Big thanks to Brónagh for her help with a sweep count of the pens (and outside) on Friday. We are now up to 59 Nests and 149 eggs!

We have 3 nests with 1 egg, 22 nests with 2 eggs and 34 nests with 3 eggs! (With pen 3 really being where most of the action is, with 36 eggs in that pen alone!)

Sadly 4 Nests have been lost to bird predation and harsh wind, plus high tides 😢

More birds got ringed today: 8 Terns and 2 Ringed Plovers.

And hopefully in my next update there might be some chicks!🐣🐣

Nina

05/06/2023

Update, 1st week of June

Hi all,

Nina here, it’s been a busy first few days! It’s been great getting to know the area and meet you all under such sunny and exciting conditions.

Little Tern update: 11 Terns and 2 Ringed Plovers ringed on the beach yesterday (with Graham and Jan). Rough estimate of Little Tern numbers are 100+ . We are up to 37 nests and 72 eggs today with the looks of more on the way 🤞(and more nests spotted by Maurice outside the pens to the north) Looking forward to spending this season with you!

Nina

01/06/2023

Welcome Nina!

Pictures is Nina Rogerson with Matt on the early morning shift at Baltray.

We now have several marked nests and over 60 adults flying around. A few pairs have set up nest on a small are of exposed shingle tot eh north of the site, that may require fencing.

29/05/2023

Eight Nests And Counting

North pens (5,6,7,8,9) swept today. 8 nests 4 singles, 4 doubles! 2 adults trapped and 1 adult (a first for Baltray) fresh Ringed. Second was hatched in Kilcoole and retrapped in Wales!  Thanks to Jan Rod and Tom (2) Kavanagh (Portrane) for the expertise and patience along with Aquilla, and Amber who assisted with biometrics!

Next week :

We welcome Nina Rogerson on the 1st of June as Warden for 2023.

She'll be resident in our recently acquired caravan. Official introductions will be made as she arrives. Good to see we're starting with some nests! One bum note, 2 grey crow are tormenting the nester, so all wardens are requested to concentrate on leg work to make life as uncomfortable as possible at all times.... Roll on the progress. 😁😄

Dominic

28/05/2023

First nest!

Yesterday (27th May) we had the first confirmed marked little tern nest at Baltray. This is a few days later than pervious years but with more than 60 adults flying around and several other pairs prospecting, things are looking good. The spell of fine weather has been a help, and in particular the absence of dredging activity. If of interest you can track the dredging activity online at https://www.vesselfinder.com/. The two dredgers are the Sospan Dau and the Argus, both suction dredgers. The previous one, the Hebble Sands, sank at dock in Drogheda due to poor maintenance, releasing fuel and other contaminants, and is still there. there are also a few other terns species hanging around, common and roseate terns mainly, along with a small flock of summer dunlins and sanderlings....

24/05/2023

Progress

Great progress with the fencing over the last week with pretty much all fencing up now, and the electric fence installed and live.

n terms of birds, we have 30 to 40 little terns visiting the site at the moment, with some signs of courtship and nest prospection. Typically courtship is kicked off when a male bird overflies the colony with a fish, usually a sand eel. This triggers a lot of calling and chasing. Finally the male offers the sand eel to a female and if she accepts, things look good. This may be followed by a lot of wing display as pair bonding proceeds. We have learned over the years that the availability of sand eels at this time of year is crucial to a successful season. If birds cant find prey they are likely to move to another site, perhaps Kikoole or Groniant.

17/05/2023

Welcome!

Bronagh got a good introduction to the terns this morning as they are there in big numbers. If you can pop down over the next few days, you too will be surprised! Looks like all hands on deck from now on!🤞🤞Welcome Bronagh!

Dominic

13/05/2023

After the Storm

last weeks high tide did quite a lot of damage to the outer fencing, now thankfully repaired - well done everyone!

Over last weekend  we had 72 little terns flying over the site, fishing at the mouth of the Boyne, and generally setting up to breed. These have now mostly gone with just 16 birds persisting. This is a familiar pattern as the birds check out the different sites before deciding where to nest. The exact basis of this decision-making is only partly understood but a critical element is availability of abundant sand eels. We have noted is past years when breeding has all but failed, that the initial arrival of birds failed to find fish. If no fish there can be no present giving, no courtship....we have seen a co-relation between availability of fish and intensity of dredging activities in past years....

06/05/2023

High Water

The recent high tides coupled with an easterly has damaged the first round of fencing. It would appear that the current configuration of the beach, which changes every season, is not ideal for nesting, in that there is upper ridge, as we have had for the last few years. Repairs are underway.

30/04/2023

Arrivals

Up to 50 little terns have been seen around the mouth of the Boyne yesterday after an anxious wait. A large cohort of at lease 35 arrived in Kilcoole last week. No word yet from Groniant, the north Wales colony (https://www.facebook.com/nwlittletern/) or from the Isle of Man. An interesting color ringing scheme running for the last few years has revealed interesting information about how little terns move around from colony to colony especially around the Irish sea. The basis of this decision making is of ongoing interest in terms of site management : https://community.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/b/science/posts/insights-from-colour-ringing-little-terns

28/04/2023

Fencing Work

The beach configuration this year looks favorable.

28/04/2023

Fencing work progressing

Great progress with the fencing at Baltray with most pens now complete.

24/04/2023

New Season 2023

Work has started on erecting the fencing at Baltray in anticipation of the return of the little terns. We know that many terns species were affected by bird flu this winter and spring, but are hopeful that the little terns, who tend to stick together more than other terns species, will get through. The good news is that a small number has already arrived at Kilkoole. Anybody wishing to volunteer for this particularly busy part of the season should contact Dominic Hartigan at hartigan.dominic@yahoo.com.

13/09/2022

Scholars Volunteer Dinner 2022

A great night was had by all at Scholars in Drogheda to celebrate another very successful year at Baltray. And a huge thanks to everyone who helped! Aine's knitted little terns made the night! See gallery for a few photos.

19/08/2022

Last Four Chicks

I have been monitoring our last 4 chicks 🐥 for the last couple of weeks, romantic worrier, I like things to be seen through, that is just me. After all the efforts from all of us I had to make sure. Today, and to paraphrase Georges Gershwin’s legendary lyrics, I saw our last 4 chicks fly, training flying, which involves the adults carrying fish; it was amazing. I will be down in the morning. I added a couple of pictures of the slight few days a difference can make. What an amazing adventure! Franck

18/08/2022

Last Chicks

Hi all, I hope you are well! Very little activity today with one young flying chick outside pen 2 and after an hour scanning the sight between 7 and 5, I am happy to report that our latest chicks (4) are being well fed and looked after. It started to rain at 11:30 and the clouds were a bit stationary but before that, I spotted our peregrine fella on the strand at low tide. The very few terns left gave it hell and a grey crow looking for bits got it too; they really don’t like them! I will be around for the next couple of days and probably next week for tidying up 🧹. I will leave you with some ( poor) pictures of our peregrine. Have a nice evening!

15/08/2022

Dog Days!

All great today in Baltray, Eithne covered sos beag and I was there for sos mór and Maurice there now for the bedtime story - many visitors to the beach today of all nationalities, including someone I hadn't seen since primary school (20 years ago😜) who now lives in Italy - everyone full of chat and not one rule breaker. Gull must have got itself out of pen🤔 Gerard Murray was down and identified a leas tern by call at around 4pm. Beach full of happy hoomins and boids - snail explosion continues - water fab so bring your togs 🧜‍♀️🦀🧜‍♀️☀️

11/08/2022

Hot!

Hi all! It was a quiet day today but I had a mix of 80 Little Terns, young and adults on the shore. I stayed North during the high tide period from 9 to 12:30 but no one came to cross while all the birds were resting. No bird of prey attack either. After lunch I went back there and decided to leave the sign 🪧 that @⁨Noel⁩ kindly brought over. Great to see @⁨Tom⁩ popping in this morning also for a bit of banter and @⁨Matthew⁩ with his family at lunchtime! Big Merci to @⁨Aine⁩ for letting me know about the amadan who parked his/her car right at the gate, thankfully I had left a bit earlier as the heat was getting to me a bit. Take care all and looking forward to see you in the last stretch. We have 8 chicks left and nearly ready to take off. 10 days from now will keep me very happy. I leave with two amigos having a rest like I am about to take. Slán Tamall, Franck.

09/08/2022

Sail on...

“Sail on, my little honey bees sail on “ 🎶 a Muddy Waters 🎸 introduction to let you know that the “ Buffer Twins” are now flying 🤗! I started to move the posts in the cage but I had to police a mother and two teenagers for having their dog off lead near the sensitive zone; twice... The second time things got more direct! Anyhoo, @⁨Maurice Connaghy⁩ , I will have the job done. We should still have 8 non flying chicks 🐣 in there so l don’t want to mess up the end game. Two more chicks are ready in 6, nearly there in 2 ( formerly 1). And the latest of 5, super hard to see but the activity is right. I would love the perimeter to remain, still a lot of feeding and chasing the unwelcome. 300 Sanderlings on the beach with close to 100 Dunlins and 15 Roseate Terns flying over the caravans at 4 pm. Have a great evening!

09/08/2022

Insects

I've noticed quite a bit of insect activity on the beach at the moment. On Sunday there were several eruptions of flying ants, with huge flocks of swallows feeding on them. They all seemed to be black garden ants ( Lasius niger). Also apparent were large numbers of 6-spot burnets emerging from their cocoons, as well as cinnabar caterpillars feeding on ragwort, and just one adult on the way out. When they emerge they leave their exoskeletons behind...

06/08/2022

Thanks to Ku and Yu-Hann

Many thanks to Ku and Yu-Hann for their for their fantastic work on the site this summer. Your dedication to the wardening and recording work was fantastic and really contributed tot he success of the project. Best of luck in the future! On behalf of the Louth Natrue Trust

06/08/2022

140 Chicks

Dia Dhaoibh a chairde 📰! A quick round up of the day, between a loss in translation with her little poodle 🐩 hanging out in the buffer zone, I made light of the event as her English wasn’t super but we laughed about it in the end. Chased a few hooded crows but the terns did all the work really, same with the Sparrowhawk who they escorted all the way to Meath, quite far in fact. We met some cool people really interested and a kind jogger from Poland who didn’t want to disturb the birds so decided to turn around... Legend! It was Yu-Hann’s last day today and it was lovely to have shared a slice of life with them young students. Ku will finish tomorrow. As I ended a call with Breffni wondering about Roseate Terns, 10 flew over the caravans. Life is good and another page is slowly turning. Have a wonderful weekend, I will be back on Sunday 😉.

04/08/2022

Quick Summary

Good evening my dear Tern people, here are some quick news; all the chicks are around even the last two I thought lost, a bit more activity but it’s gone very quiet with 60 + at some stage around the shores. I got a bit tired of people not quite respecting the area ( and also running haha 😆) so I put some ( very last) clear signs 🪧 on each side of the outer buffer... just for the last couple of weeks, no excuses! A Sparrowhawk made an appearance south shore and quite far near the stone marker and in the commotion all the cormorants took off so no luck this time... For her! That was 11:40, soon to be followed by our Peregrine North side , in this case again, no cigar! Have a pleasant evening and I leave you with a couple of shots from my patrols 😉.

03/08/2022

Quick Roundup

Good evening everyone! Quick round up of the day; after a very rainy drive, I decided to do “an audit” of the chicks 🐣 situation. We seem to have 14 non flying chicks in pens and my missing 2 from 5 might just be around after all! Our buffer twins on 7 now are doing great, flapping away but not quite there yet. With the help of Louth County Council we managed to pick up our poor beached seal 🦭 and we had to explain a couple of joggers the importance to keep off a protected area of conservation. From me and for now, over and out!

01/08/2022

1st August update

Dear Friends of the Little Terns, here are the news 📰! First of all, the last chicks 🐣 of the season are out on 5; according to my observations today we should still have 14 “under age” chicks in pens and about 6 in critical attention ⚠️ as the rooks and greys are back with a vengeance and a couple of hooded crows landed on 6 and they had be running! Since I was on my own after Aine left this morning, I had to hire “The Stump” when I was out chasing crows. I met a lot of very understanding humans and spent time chatting and showing and sharing the birds’ lives, all of them 🔭! Very uplifting that way and as a result we had no walkers on the beach. Another good news is that our “buffer twins” are doing great, still in 7 and getting fed regularly. Another two chicks on 6 ventured in the buffer but the parents literally kicked them back in. After high tide snooze where I counted 120+ adults and young on the beach, there was over 200 oystercatchers, 300 Sanderlings and well over 100 Dunlins and Plovers. Franck

29/07/2022

Thursday 28th July

Well, what a busy day! We have new chicks 🐣 on 6, the 3 days old chicks of one moved to 6, a tern still on nest in 5 and after over 40 days, “Lonely Jane” in buffer is clearly giving up her little egg by much longer absences. Bright side? We witnessed a lot of training on the shores, literally adults showing the younger ones the ropes about flying and fishing, sometimes with a bait, amazing to watch. There are still a lot of flying young and adults on the strand. A couple of Rooks are knocking about so be vigilant and a Kestrel made an appearance north side but no big threat. To follow with @⁨Dominic Hartigan⁩ said, you can count on me to be there until it’s Dunta Sterna and I leave you with a cúpla pictures. Tóg go bog é 😊!

28/07/2022

Kilcoole Update

Birdwatch Ireland run a parallel conservation project for little terns at Kilcoole (http://littleternconservation.blogspot.com/). This year they stopped much of the wardening, ringing and weighting chicks on the advice of RSPB due to bird flu. In the event no evidence of bird flu was found. The site produced about 250 pairs at peak, and about half of the chicks died of starvation apparently abandoned on the nests. This typically happens when birds are spending a lot of time hunting for fish at sea, a knock on effect of over fishing and climate change. It was estimated that something in the range of 150 chicks may have actually fledged, but no formal count..... It would seem that little terns are relatively protected from bird flu by the fact that, unlike other terns species, they tend to have mono-specific site, not intermingling with the other terns....