Little Tern suffers again
I had hoped that with no typhoons this year, Little Tern breeding would go smoothly — but things rarely work out that way. In early June, PAC3 deployment caused Little Terns and Kentish Plovers to abandon their nests. This time, pre-season beach maintenance prompted another nest abandonment….
The Little Tern is listed as Vulnerable on the Ministry of the Environment's Red List, and is designated an internationally rare wild species under the Japan–Australia Migratory Bird Agreement's Act on Conservation of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora — and yet this is how they are treated.
A Little Tern nest abandoned after a single egg was laid.
Among the flock driven off the beach, there were banded individuals.
A Little Tern catching fish at the beach.
Little Tern in summer plumage (left) and first-summer plumage.
It was a flock of about 70. I hope they find a new nesting site…
They were alarm-calling and mobbing beachgoers, but most of the nests had been crushed by heavy machinery, and no one paid the Little Terns any attention.