We are pleased to announce, after lots of planning and testing, that live-streaming is operational at the Visitor Center in the Gronant Dunes. Images are being beamed in from a couple of nests and the birds are currently on eggs. In about 10 days they are due to hatch and there will be great opportunities to see a tern's-eye view of the chicks being fed. Below is a snapshot of an adult sitting tight on its eggs. It takes luck (or great patience!) to see a changeover or food-pass, but is exciting when it happens. One adult on each nest is also colour-ringed so it is possible to see which adult is tending the nest at any one time. To see it for yourself please visit the site. Numbers of birds have peaked lately at 420 adults, an increase on the roughly 350 which had been spending the summer here. We think this is likely due to an influx of failed breeders from other sites around the Irish Sea. It is getting late for these to start nesting now. They would still be around in Mid-August if they started now. Saying that, there are still displaying birds down on the beach. Of pairs that did re-lay we are over 80 active nests. The calm weather looks set to last, but whilst weather isn't a threat right now, a pair of Kestrels certainly are. They are being seen increasingly frequently. Consequently, any volunteer help down at Gronant will be very helpful in the coming weeks.
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AuthorHenry Cook Archives
March 2022
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