06/05/25 - Tern arrival

Following the report of a pair of Common Terns back in the Lower Derwent Valley recently, our team relaunched the tern rafts last week for another season, and we’re now pleased to say that the pair have already taken up residency on one of the rafts on the pool at Wheldrake.

Common Terns used to be a regular spring passage migrant to the reserve, with occasional, but unsuccessful breeding attempts, however, thanks to a generous private donation to the Friends in 2017, two tern rafts were provided which resulted in the first successful breeding attempt for the site, with a single pair raising two young. Since then, and with an additional two tern rafts being provided, a total of 28 young have been reared and ringed on the reserve. From these colour-ringed birds we have had six subsequent resightings; a bird returning in its first summer to Lancashire, another seen during its first winter off the coast of The Gambia, Western Africa, and others subsequently breeding on the Farne Islands and in the RSPB Aire Valley. It’s amazing to think these birds cover such huge distances during the year and return each spring to the rafts in the Lower Derwent - fingers crossed for another successful year.