Terns’ exceptional breeding season

One of the UK’S smallest and rarest seabirds has battled against the odds to record a remarkable breeding season in 2017.

After plummeting in number by 18 per cent since 2000, the little tern has this year fledged more than 600 chicks from just 1,600 remaining pairs.

Weighing no more than 55g – roughly the same as a tennis ball – the dainty birds make a epic migration of more than 3,000 miles every year, travelling from west Africa to raise chicks on the UK’S shingle beaches.

Those seabirds that survive the mammoth journey then face a number of treacherous challenges to their chicks’ survival.

Laying between one and three camouflaged eggs on the beach, nests regularly get washed away by stormy weather and strong tides, as well as often being accidentally disturbed by people walking by.

Samantha Herbert