One of the best Aride jobs ever - counting roseate tern nests!

Last Sunday it was time for just two people to go into the colony and count the nests and eggs, it was not a job neither Chloe nor I had done before and with the birds very prone to disturbance I was more than a little apprehensive to say the least. But we had discussed our plan of attack and were ready and prepared for the task in hand. We both had a soft spot for these birds and were looking forward to getting up close and personal with them. Due to a lack of food last year none of the birds survived, but this year was looking good we have seen numerous birds flying along the beach, so fingers were crossed that there would be over 500 pairs, which would be amazing.

Roseate terns have become a real rarity in the UK, I remember as a teenager I used to make the trip to Cemlyn Bay on Anglesey that used to a couple of pairs and sometimes I might just to get a glimpse of them, through my inadequate telescope. Here on Aride we have the only woodland nesting colony in the World and the only colony in the granitic Seychelles – so it is of major significance. Hence the excitement...

After breakfast we headed up the hill path, now out of bounds, the sootys had taken up residence in many spots along the path, most of them were defending eggs and they barked at us with their very dog-like call. Beautiful birds, so well defined, clean cut and perfectly built for flight, long wings, short legs and streamline bodies, as we walked through they scuttled out of the way like little old men with their hands behind their backs dressed in their dinner suits. We tried to reassure them, but they were duty to bound come what may to stay with their eggs, some even refused point blank to move and we stepped over them. There seemed to be a good number of birds in the periphery of the woods along the path - so may be it is going to be a good season.

As we diverted off the path, the roseates sounded quiet and for a minute I thought oh know may be the colony has suffered persecution from poachers, but then like magic, their high pitch calls rang through and I caught sight of their pale grey bodies and black heads bobbing about in amongst the leaves. We made a plan to walk to the top of the colony and enter in form the side and keep going across or taking sections in this way. Chloe had prepared recording sheets and small pieces of paper, these were for putting into each nest when it was counted to try and avoid double counting. I nervously collected 50 pieces ready in my hand and we entered the mass of birds. The noise was tremendous, calling and squawking, unlike the sootys gruff call they were high pitched and sounded at times like geese.
We were both in bare feet purposefully so as to ensure that we could be sensitive about where I was putting my feet, at times the eggs were particularly well camouflaged and my walking shoes just made my feet feel big and bulky. I tiptoed through the nests shouting out to Chlo the number of eggs in each and then placing a square of paper beside each. It worked brilliantly and without the paper it would've been pretty much impossible.

A large percentage of the nests only had one egg in, but there were some with two and even three and four - amazing. We worked our way through methodically, breaking the colony into sections so it was manageable. In places the noise from the birds was so loud I had to shout the numbers out for Chlo to record them. The terrain was quite difficult and it was hard work to be nimble, quick, but as accurate as possible and of course avoid breakages.

It was a relief to see that sections of the colony settled down again as we moved on, as the Seychelles skinks were all waiting in the wings as soon as we pushed the birds of their eggs, for an easy meal. We needed to be as quick as we could or otherwise our visit would be detrimental to numbers and that was the last thing we wanted. It surprised me how quickly the birds settled again and they would snuggle down on top of their eggs and with their sharp beaks there was no skink that would take them on.

The area we had cleared was proving to be very successful, the birds were in the area freshly opened up by felling the small Pisonia and also on the tree felled last year, which we had taken the re growth off. The birds would walk up and down this objecting to our presence. Every now and again I would look up for my bent position as I nest counted and just glance at the scene in front of me - it was outrageous, beautiful and such a privilege to be here doing this, although a big nature conservation responsibility. The birds themselves were stunning, their red legs and beaks looked unnatural, but set off perfectly by their black caps and rosy tummies. There was one individual that particularly objected to my presence and invasion on its privacy. It sat on its nest until the last, and in fact almost refused to move at all, located on a small terrace I was at eye-level with her, no more than 2 foot away, with beak open I could see down her throat, I smiled, this was out of this world.

It took us about an hour all told and once completed we sat out of sight at the western end and just watched and listened, the sweat was pouring off me , Chloe did a tally up and we had recorded 524 nests, fantastic. We watched the birds return to their positions sitting back on top of the eggs in amongst the leaves and really nestling in, they looked quite comical, tummies down, tails up. The noise had subsided and it was just a gentle back ground level of high pitched chattering, as they squabbled a little and chattered to each other.

We headed down the hill smiling, as we got to the beach the light was bright after being under the canopy with our heads bent down for so long, it had been a very special day and one I’ll remember for some time, one of the best yet.