Prosperity off the north Dublin coast

WITH the current gloom and doom it’s a relief to have something positive to write about. Bank accounts may be empty and begging bowls back in vogue but there’s prosperity off the north Dublin coast; the tern colony on Rockabill has broken all records.

According to Dr Steve Newton of BirdWatch Ireland, 1,052 pairs of roseate, 1,796 of common and 345 Arctic terns, nested there this summer; 3,193 pairs in total. It’s incredible that so many nests can fit on this tiny island. There were about 500 of them 20 years ago and it seemed crowded even then. This lump of granite, divided by a narrow channel, protrudes from the sea 6km east of Skerries. Only 0.8 hectares in extent, it supports one of the most important sea-bird colonies in the world.

Terns are little gull-like birds, greyish-white with black skull-caps. Great flyers, they spend much of their time in the air. We have five species in Ireland. The largest, the sandwich tern, is easily recognised; its black bill has a white tip. It must be the world’s noisiest seabird but what terns are saying to each other as they plunge-dive for fish is a mystery. The little tern, our smallest species, is also easy to identify; it’s tiny and has a bright yellow bill. The other three terns, however, are difficult to tell apart even for ornithologists. They are much the same in size and have red and black bills. Roseates are paler, with shorter wings. Their bills are black except for a red base. The name comes from a rosy tint on the breast which fades early in the breeding season. Common and arctic terns are reasonably abundant but roseates are not. Only about 2,000 pairs nest in Europe.