Seabird numbers bounce again in Solent area after 2022 avian flu wipeout | Birds

The colony of sandwich terns nesting at Pagham harbour, West Sussex, was fully worn out by chicken flu in 2022. But numbers have bounced again from zero to 756 breeding pairs in simply three years after conservation work within the Solent.

Populations of breeding little terns, ringed plovers, oystercatchers and black-headed gulls have additionally elevated alongside the identical shoreline. The turnaround comes because of work by RSPB workers and volunteers on the Pagham harbour nature reserve and comparable efforts throughout 52,000 hectares (128,000 acres) of shoreline and estuary between the south coast and the Isle of Wight.

The sandwich terns produced 570 fledglings at Pagham harbour this summer time, one of many largest colonies ever recorded within the Solent area. Numbers of black-headed gulls elevated 10-fold from 51 fledglings in 2025 to 504 in 2026, whereas little terns had been up from 21 final yr to 34.

Avocets additionally prospered, with 18 pairs nesting on newly created islands inside a saline lagoon at Ferry Pool, which offered safer nesting areas for shoreline birds. Other conservation work included particular fencing to exclude mammalian predators of ground-nesting birds corresponding to foxes, monitoring for the presence of rats, in-person patrols to cut back predation and the selective elimination of vegetation to create space for shorebirds to nest.

Wez Smith, senior challenge supervisor for the RSPB, mentioned: “In 2022, sandwich terns, black-headed gulls and Mediterranean gulls had been hit severely by HPAI/chicken flu, resulting in the abandonment of their breeding colony at Pagham harbour. It’s taken a number of years of devoted conservation motion, however the scenario started to ‘tern’ round final yr, and the location is now thriving with report breaking populations utilizing it.”

Volunteers and rangers have additionally carried out patrols to boost consciousness amongst guests and native folks of the vulnerability of ground-nesting birds to disturbance, with dog-friendly train areas offered away from the nesting birds.

At close by RSPB Medmerry, floating rafts for nesting birds have offered predator-free areas for widespread terns and black-headed gulls to nest with out being disturbed by canines or boats, whereas rafts have additionally boosted widespread tern breeding numbers at West Hayling, one other RSPB coastal reserve in Hampshire.

The efforts are a part of the Solent Seascape challenge, a long-term partnership of charities and establishments led by Blue Marine Foundation to revive coastal nesting websites, seagrass beds, oyster reefs and saltmarsh alongside the coast.