Common Terns at Little
Marlow GP
by
Jim Rose
For several years one or two terns had summered at Little Marlow Gravel Pit and
attempted to breed on the main island, but often failed. Having seen tern rafts used
successfully at various other sites, a small group of Little Marlow regulars decided to
try a raft at the site. We managed to acquire a partly built raft from a local
company, the raft having been used for a charity, "everyone gets wet", raft race
on the Thames the previous summer. The raft consisted on an 8'x4' piece of marine
ply-board to which eight polythene drums had been strapped. By adding sides and
corner posts, plus some wire mesh, the raft was almost complete. After floating the
raft in the water we added a layer of gravel and attached several anchor chains. On
30th April 1994 the first raft was launched with the help of staff from Redland Aggregates
(Now Lefarge Aggregates) who used their tugboat to tow the raft to the middle of the
lake. Within an hour of leaving the raft a pair of the newly arrived terns landed on
the raft and soon made it home.
On about 9th June 1994 two young were hatched and went on the fledge successfully.
In early May 1995 the original tern raft was re-launched along with a second purpose
built model. The launch was again assisted by Redland's staff and this time a pair
of terns bred on each of the raft although only three young were raised. On 17th
June Mick McQuaid ringed the three tern chicks, one of which was recorded at Seaforth
Nature Reserve, near Liverpool, on 16th June 1996. Apparently the ring number was
read as the bird was perched at close range. It is nice to know that at least one of
"our birds" reached adulthood.
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Mike Wallen, Phil
Horwood and Jim Rose preparing to tow the rafts to the middle of the lake 8th May 1995 |
On-tow - 8th
May 1995.
Courtesy of Redland Aggregates. |
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Sitting pretty
- 8th May 1995
Before the Common Terns, Canada Geese and Cormorants turned it partly white! |
Despite
erecting wire mesh around the edge, Canada Geese can usually manage to get aboard.
Sometimes territorial disputes occur but at other times the co-habit peacefully. |
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These rather
aggressive parent birds dive bombing us out of the sun didn't worry us at all. We
were wearing hard hats! - 17th June 1995 |
Well
camouflaged chicks about to be ringed - 17th June 1995 |
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Mick McQuaid
(presumably) with ringed chick - 17th June 1995 |
In 1996 the pair attempted to breed on both
tern rafts and also on a moored barge which is normally used for moving gravel. One
of the pairs on a raft failed but the other two pairs were successful.
During 1997 a pair bred on both tern
rafts.
In 1998 four pairs were present with a
pair on each of the two rafts, a pair on a small island and a pair which apparently did
not attempt to breed. This may well have been due to aggression from the pairs in
residence as they were seen to be very territorial.
1999 saw seven pairs settling down to
breed on two rafts and on a small island, with the number of fledged birds well into
double figures.
For 2000 a third raft was built, with
the original raft making it's last appearance as it's now fragile state will probably only
just see it through the summer. A ringing party on the 17th June found that two
rafts had supported three pairs each and the third raft four pairs. The
total number of fledglings was ten, which were all ringed, with ten eggs yet to hatch.
It is thought that a pair of Canada Geese that raised a brood on one raft delayed
the Terns for a while thereby leaving six eggs unhatched on that raft alone.
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The picture shows
the team of volunteers who turned out to help with the launch of the rafts. From left to right Dave Parmenter, Rob
Andrews, Alan Stevens, Tom Perrins, Mike Wallen, Chris Bullock, Danny Davis and John
Sweeney. Jim Rose behind the camera.
24th April 2000 |
2001
Breeding Season
Autumn 2000 saw the original raft fall
to pieces when lifted from the water. This left just two sea-worthy rafts for the
2001 breeding season. The newer of the two rafts was improved with a wire mesh
around the sides to prevent the chicks jumping overboard. Both rafts were launched
in early May.
Several pairs of Terns occupied both
rafts, one bird sporting a ring on it's right leg. Alan Stevens managed to read most
of the ring when the bird was perched fairly close and we await a reply from the BTO as to
it's origins. One thing we know is that it was not ringed at Little Marlow.
On 25th June Chris Bullock,
Mick McQuaid, Mike Collard and Jim Rose took on what is now the annual task of ringing the
Common Tern chicks at Little Marlow GP. Eleven chicks were present on the first raft
of which ten were ringed. One had rather short stumpy legs and was left unringed.
It was considered to be abnormal rather than an Arctic Tern!! There were also
two eggs. The second raft had three chicks, one of which was ringed, the others
being left unringed, as we had no more of the correct size. This raft also had one
small dead chick and we know at least one chick had been taken by a Crow. The total
number of chicks hatched as of 25th June was therefore at least sixteen.
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This space left for pictures to be provided by Mike Collard - Hopefully!
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