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Decoys may help tern over a new leaf at Montrose

A new project that aims to encourage terns to nest and breed on Montrose Basin Local Nature Reserve in Angus, away from unsuitable industrial sites, is now in full swing thanks to junior members of the Scottish Wildlife Trusts (SWT) Watch. The group helped staff position decoys terns, made by school children and community groups in Dundee, on key sites at Montrose Basin.

Montrose is home to three main species of terns. The Arctic and common terns normally nest on open shingle shores but in Montrose they have taken up residence on gravelled surfaces of factories or warehouses roofs where they are considered a pest. Beach-goers enjoying the spring sun in Montrose may not realise that they share the sand with the nationally rare little tern. Little terns are highly susceptible to disturbance, a reason for their decline in Scotland, and only one of 15 little tern chicks that hatched in 2006 survived.

The first phase of the decoy project is to encourage the terns away from these unsuitable breeding sites to the sanctuary of the Montrose Basin Nature Reserve. SWT's Montrose Basin Ranger Neil Mitchell said "By using the decoys, we hope that terns will think other birds are safely nesting within the reserve and will follow suit. The reserve offers greater protection and less disturbance to birds, now we just have wait for the first terns to arrive on our shores to see whether our plan works."

As Mitchell continues, in the longer term plans to put rafts or modified cobble boats as nesting platforms are being investigated: ?The area in which the decoys have been placed is under constant surveillance from cameras at the visitor centre. If successful the birds will be easily viewed from the Scottish Wildlife Trust's visitor centre at Montrose. It is essential during this time that visitors steer clear of this area so that there is minimal disturbance to the colony.?

Making the journey from the Antarctic, the Arctic tern undertakes the longest migration of any bird species. The little tern is the UK's smallest tern, about half the size of a common tern and all three flock to Montrose to feed on small fish found in abundance in the rich waters around Montrose.

To see the work being carried out, why not pay a visit. SWT's Montrose Basin Visitor Centre and Wildlife Reserve is situated on the A92, one mile south of Montrose and is open daily in Summer from 10.30am to 5pm. For more information visit http://www.swt.org.uk/wildlife/montrosebasin.asp