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Tern Ringing

Hughie Bell and Ben Herschell alerted us to the thriving Little Tern colony near the Glaxo works at Montrose. In the course of ringing a couple of the chicks it became clear that there was a superb Arctic tern colony within the works itself. The company responded positively to the colony, reducing disturbance to a minimum and tolerating their presence well. Contact was made and it was agreed that TRG could go into the grounds under supervision and ring the chicks (under perfect conditions as the grounds are surrounded by a security fence). It had been hoped to ring the terns during the ringing course but unfortunately the weather was too inclement, and it was not until 5th August that we were able to get a team onsite. It was towards the end of the breeding season and many of the chicks had fledged, so only 30 chicks were ringed, with an estimated minimum of 70+ chicks thought to have fledged over the season. It is hoped that we may be able to repeat the exercise next year.