Little terns at Gronant

With Mersey ferry's having a problem with the ferry and cancelling our Eco and Liverbird cruises, it left a number of us with a spare day. 4 of us decided we still wanted to go birding so Chris suggested the little tern colony at Gronant.

Recently a little tern colony near Hartlepool had all its eggs robbed by an egg thief.
The little tern colony at Gronant is the only one in Wales and is now protected by Denbighshire Councils ranger service.
This colony also suffers loss due to other circumstances. Large storm tides, foxes, kestrels, humans and other things.

We walked on the raised broadwalk to the viewing platform and watched the sea coming in. The terns were flying everywhere but we were still some distance away.
So we walked down the shingle ridge and I explained that these are the UK smallest terns and when you watch them you can see how the fly more like a snipe than their bigger cousins.


Looking through the waders on the beach we noticed some summer plumaged sanderling. As we got closer to the protected zone we noticed a ringed plover. I wondered if it would do the broken wing thing but it didn't.



Laura wanted to get closer to the terns and you can, as long as you stay out of the nesting area. Nearly 200 little terns are there and it was great to see lots of birds carrying n food and calling.  There was of course the odd squabbles and chasing off others in territory disputes.

There is of course another problem for birders watching the colony and that is the terns will crap on you!! I have the droppings on my bins to prove it. Does that make them lucky bins or I will see better birds!

Its a great place to visit with the opportunity to see other things around the dunes.
We have a group walk to Point of Air on Sunday 8th September at 10am.
Chris