Rare roseate tern has bred on Brownsea Island (From Bournemouth Echo)

Rare roseate tern has bred on Brownsea Island

8:00am Wednesday 5th August 2009 in

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One of the UK’s rarest seabirds has bred on Brownsea Island for the first time ever.

This successful nesting of the roseate tern is the first record of the bird breeding anywhere in Poole Harbour and the first in Dorset for more than 20 years.

Similar in size to the common tern, with long tail-streamers, a black cap and black beak with red base, it has red status as a bird of conservation concern because of the severe decline in population.

The pair chose to nest in a man-made box on the far side of the lagoon in the Dorset Wildlife Trust nature reserve and have produced one fluffy chick.

In recent years the occasional roseate tern has been seen around the Dorset coast on migration, but it came as a complete surprise to trust staff to discover a pair nesting among the other terns.

“This has been a very busy year for terns on the lagoon, with exceptionally large numbers of Sandwich terns, but this is a real bonus,” said Chris Thain, reserve manager.

“It is a confirmation of the excellent habitat provided by Brownsea’s lagoon as well as the good supplies of fish in Poole Bay.”

The reserve on the National Trust owned island in Poole Harbour is open daily and the adults and chick can be seen through a telescope from the low hide.

It is expected to fledge this week and leave for West Africa this month.

There are an estimated 94 breeding pairs in the UK and most of the breeding colonies are off the Northumberland coast, in Anglesey and Pembrokeshire.