Roseate Terns LIVE - Life on the Terraces
Cameras have been installed on the Roseate Tern terrace on RSPB Coquet Island which will be streamed LIVE to the internet tomorrow (21 May). This will be the first ever live stream of this species, and offer an unprecedented insight into their behaviour!
RSPB Coquet Island holds the sole colony of Roseate Terns in the UK. Public access to the island is prohibited to prevent damage to the fragile habitat and disturbance to the breeding bird assemblage.
Now, thanks to support from the LIFE Programme of the European Union and the Northumberland Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Sustainable Development Fund, the general public can get unfettered access to the views and sounds of breeding Roseate Terns on the island.
The cameras were installed amongst the Roseate Tern boxes before their inhabitants returned from Africa. These bespoke boxes were first installed on Coquet in 2000 when the UK population had declined to 56 pairs. In the following years other colonies were lost, while Coquets fortunes have been relatively good. In 2015 the highest rosy population was recorded (111 pairs) on the island for 40 years.
In 2015, the Roseate Tern LIFE project was commenced by the RSPB. As well as helping to support existing colonies in Coquet and Rockabill, this project also aims to help revive historic Roseate Tern colonies, develop new ones and further the understanding of this specie’s difficulties.
Wesley Davies (a resident warden) “The cameras have already revealed views and behaviours that we weren’t expecting - you get a much more personal perspective than we do when ring reading.”
Watch live from 21st May
The live feed can be found here from the 21st May: www.rspb.org.uk/coquetlive
Follow on social media
You can follow Coquet's resident warden Wesley @Coquet_Island
You can follow RSPB in Northern England @RSPB_N_England
RSPB
20 May 2016
