Coquet Island
Steve Newman heads to Coquet Island in the north-east of England to marvel at one of the UK’s biggest bird conservation success stories…
We marvel at one of the UK’s biggest conservation stories
Lying just over a mile from the port of Amble on the Northumberland coast, Coquet Island is easily spotted by its dominating white lighthouse. At first sight it appears rather uninteresting, as it consists of a flat grassy plateau surrounded by low sandstone cliffs with a wide, tidal rocky platform.
This island, however, holds one of the major success stories on bird conservation, as it is home to the UK’s only sustainable Roseate Tern colony. This is largely owing to the efforts of RSPB Warden Paul Morrison and his team, over the years, to maximise ideal conditions for these magnificent birds. Since the RSPB took over management of Coquet Island in 1975, the population of Roseate Terns has risen from 60 breeding pairs to 130.
Paul has been involved with Coquet for 37 years. His first job was helping to take supplies out to the lighthouse, and from there, his interest and passion for the island grew over the decades. It’s somewhere he feels so privileged to belong to, even with the less hands-on work of writing up a new management plan every five years!
“You have to understand that Coquet Island is not just a reserve.” says Paul. “It’s a sanctuary, so the public are not allowed to land. Wherever we walk, whatever we do, the mantra is that minimum
disturbance for the birds is paramount.”
The team know where they can and cannot walk to achieve this, and also keep away from risky areas where the Puffin burrows have made the surface very fragile. Monitoring the birds ensures there is also a regular team on the island, such as scientists doing research, rangers, students, and volunteers who come on to the island to help.
During the breeding season the island is occupied 24 hours a day seven days a week, and even when the birds have left the team carry out jobs they could not do before such as cutting back the invasive Yorkshire Fog grass and monitoring Purple Sandpiper populations.
“As well as ringing and monitoring all the species on the island, some Roseates were fitted with loggers and we have some amazing results about their journeys to and from Africa. Through our ringing programme we’ve discovered that 60% of returning birds were bred on the island. We now have 300 next boxes, as you can never tell how many extra birds, we might get next season.”
Camera monitoring
The island also has its own Gull Warden who monitors the populations and keeps large gulls away from the tern nesting areas to help reduce predation. The occasional Peregrine will also regularly take the Feral Pigeons on the island.
“The job is a lot easier now than when we first started. Back then, the accommodation consisted of a small shed with no gas, electricity or toilets! We relied very much on the goodwill of the lighthouse keepers.”
In 1990, a move to better accommodation in the lighthouse things changed and life became much more civilised, especially with the provision of new solar power and a desalination plant to produce fresh water.
“We now have an incredible highresolution CCTV system with numerous cameras monitoring various sections of the island. It’s so good that we can even see across to the mainland! We also have three web cams in the breeding season, so people from all over the world can watch the island’s birdlife and see what’s going on.”
Like many sea bird locations, however, populations are in a constant state of flux. Coquet is the southernmost point for Eiders breeding and, alarmingly, studies have revealed their numbers are dropping steadily. On the other hand, Puffins have increased their numbers, some moving into the Roseate nestboxes, but it is the Kittiwakes who have also shown a significant growth in their colony.
“In 1991, we had one pair of Kittiwakes, and now we have over 400. They have completely used up all the available cliff ledges and have even started nesting on the lighthouse so we have commissioned a local blacksmith to make artificial metal nesting ledges which we can pin into the cliffs to help them.”
“We all are a strong team out here, sharing tasks, and if one of us is off to the mainland, will take messages etc and come back with supplies – anything from toothpaste to Jaffa Cakes!”
Mind you, as with all islands, there is danger, as well as the extreme privilege and joys of living out here. On two occasions a squall came out of nowhere when Paul was returning to the mainland. Thick fog arriving suddenly
can also cause problems. The entrance to Amble Harbour can be tricky enough at the best of times and high winds and swell can add to skippering in such conditions.
“Yes, it’s been an interesting 37 years, and things are always changing. We have created a small sandy area now where we are hoping to attract Little Terns. There was one prospecting this year so perhaps the word will spread and we will soon be monitoring them, too.” So, the future of Coquet Island seems to be in safe hands with Paul and his team.