It is with regret that we must announce the planned darvic ringing of Sandwich and Little Terns will not go ahead this season. It has become apparent over recent weeks that the Sandwich Tern colony on Blakeney Point is affected by avian influenza, as are other seabird species on both sides of the channel, and although there is no official directive, as yet, to curtail ringing activities in the other colonies on the point we are not prepared to risk going ahead with the project and potentially worsening the situation for other tern breeding colonies. The sites are not far apart and as always the welfare of the birds must come first when considering whether work, even when still authorised, should go ahead.
Stock photo, Hiroshi Sato.
