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9 July 2009
Where do Pitsford terns spend Christmas?
Prior to 2000 at Pitsford Water Nature Reserve there were no nesting Common Terns due to there not being any suitable nesting sites.
During June 2009 details of a most interesting tern recovery were received. Common Tern chick number SV07540 was originally ringed at Pitsford Water nature reserve on 21 July 2006 and was caught by a South African ringer in Namibia on 25 February 2009. It is one of only a handful of such movements so far recorded.
Dave Francis, the Wildlife Trust warden for Pitsford Water nature reserve said “most British born terns spend the winter off the coast of West Africa, but this individual had gone nearly twice this distance!”
It was during the year of 2000 that two rafts were built for terns to nest on. These are large floating trays covered in gravel and supported underneath by floats. Within days of their construction, two pairs of Common Terns used the rafts and raised 5 young. These had numbered rings fitted to their legs. The ringing was carried out by Dave Francis, the Trust Warden for Pitsford, as part of the national bird ringing scheme run by the British Trust for Ornithology using rings with an address and a unique number on each.
The following year there were 5 nests and the totals have increased steadily since then. Additional rafts have been provided and in 2009 approximately 70 nests were recorded on five rafts. Over 400 young terns have now been ringed at Pitsford.
The Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) is a summer migrant to Britain, breeding primarily in large coastal colonies. Significant numbers however do breed inland, particularly in Southern and Eastern England. Recoveries of birds fitted with numbered metal rings on their legs show that the British population spend the winter months off the coast of West Africa, especially Senegal. In Northamptonshire there are a number of small colonies along the Nene Valley, breeding on islands and spits in old gravel workings and lakes. By using islands they are safe from most predators such as foxes, badgers, stoats and feral dogs and cats. They also breed in small numbers on some of the reservoirs by utilising rafts provided specifically for them.