In 2017, thanks to your support (via cards, calendars and log sales) and a kind private donation to the Friends of the LDV, four terns rafts were purchased by the charity, and since then, we’ve had the pleasure of having Common Terns breeding annually on the reserve (at least one or sometimes two pairs each year) - most notably on the rafts on the pool at Wheldrake Ings.
A total of 32 chicks have been hatched, ringed and fledged since that time, and so it was really pleasing to receive news about two of them this week.
One of the chicks (ringed in July 2019) was seen at Tophill Low, whilst the other (ringed in 2023) was reported amongst the tern colony at North Cave Wetlands. In other years, we have had individuals reported from colonies at RSPB Aire Valley and the Farne Islands. One or two have also been sighted at Seaforth Nature Reserve in Merseyside and another, ringed in July 2019 (and the sibling of the bird seen recently at Tophill Low), was even spotted at sea off the coast of the Gambia. It's amazing to think how our four tern rafts and small numbers of breeding pairs have added to the population, and with each chick marked with a darvic colour-ring, it has allowed these incredible journeys to be revealed.
So thank you as always for your ongoing support and helping to make this happen. If you'd like to find out more about the status and ringing recoveries of our Common Terns (and other species) all of this information, and more, can be found in the new ‘Birds of the LDV’. If you’d like to purchase a copy of this book please e-mail Lucy.Murgatroyd@naturalengland.org.uk, with 100% of the sales going straight to the Friends of the Lower Derwent Valley charity to help with projects such as these. Or, if you’d like to make a donation to the new Aviva fund, the books are available on there as a reward for making a donation – every penny counts with Aviva matching each donation made – more details can be found by using the link below.
https://communitiesfund.avivafoundation.org.uk/p/lower-derwent-valley-corncrake-reintroductiom#
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