Preparations underway to welcome back Little Terns

Work is underway to prepare a famous bird colony site for the annual arrival of its famous occupants.

Denbighshire Countryside Rangers, the North Wales Little Tern Group and volunteers are busy preparing Gronant Dunes for the arrival of the Little Terns for this year’s breeding season.

For over two decades, work has taken place this time of year to prepare the site of the largest breeding colony found in Wales for the arrival of the summer visitors.

Located on the shingle of the dunes, the site is known internationally as it contributes to over 10 percent of the entire UK breeding population as well as supporting other Little Tern colonies. Gronant and Point of Ayr are the only breeding colonies in Wales.

At the end of the month and into May, the Little Terns will fly back to Gronant Dunes from the west coast of Africa to breed and then head back South to the continent with newly fledged chicks. Last year saw 166 breeding pairs recorded and a total of 158 fledglings at the colony, a slight increase on the number of young seen during the 2023 season.

The group will put up a 3.5km perimeter fence and three kilometres electric fence along the beach area to protect the birds from ground predation, these will be taken down at the end of the season to ensure a no trace policy on the area which is also a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Once again the visitors centre will be constructed on the dunes, alongside a hide to enable viewing of the colony from a safe distance.

Last year the Little Terns visitor centre hosted a total of 1,140 visitors to the designated viewing points and 115 people engaged in the project via trips and visits to the site. Volunteers from the North Wales Little Tern Group, Denbighshire Countryside Services and Merseyside Ringing Group logged 867 volunteering hours throughout the season.

Also in 2024, the site saw avocets successfully bred at Gronant for the very first time. Two avocet chicks successfully fledged on Denbighshire’s Coastline for the first time ever.

North Denbighshire Coastal Ranger Claudia Smith explained: “It’s great to start work for the arrival of the Little Terns once again at Gronant Dunes. None of this would be possible without the fantastic support of all the volunteers who have helped us over the last two decades.

“We maintain this set up at the location as the birds are very vulnerable to human disturbance and they are also at risk from predators both in the air and on the ground. We have a team of wardens who will be present from early May at the Visitors Centre to protect the birds, talk to visitors to the site and also collect information about this year’s colony.

Cllr Barry Mellor, Lead Member for Environment and Transport and Biodiversity Champion said: “For over two decades Countryside teams alongside volunteers have worked very hard to protect this site to make the colony a real area of significance for protecting the future populations of the Little Terns. Everyone involved can be immensely proud of what they do to maintain this bustling colony on Gronant Dunes.

Work will take place to set up the colony on the following dates and new volunteers are welcome:

• Tuesday 15th April
• Thursday 24th April
• Tuesday 29th April – Friday 2nd May

Volunteer help is also welcome throughout the season (May-August).

If you are interested in volunteering or visiting the colony site, please contact claudia.smith@denbighshire.gov.uk or 07785517398.