Durham Bird Club at 50
The county avifauna, The Birds of Durham (Bowey and Newsome, 2012) records that “A public meeting in late 1974 at Sunderland Museum and Art Gallery to discuss bird watching and recording was well-attended. This was followed on 8 January 1975 by another meeting and enrolment for membership of the Durham Bird Club began shortly afterwards.”
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We shall be organising various projects and events during the year to commemorate this special anniversary. These include a "Bird of the Week" feature, appearing below.
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Bird of the Week - Week 33
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Common Tern – Summer’s Agile Fisher
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​​(Photo by Mark Harper)​​​
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One of the delights of summer by the waterside is the sight of a Common Tern – sharp-winged, graceful, and endlessly agile as it hovers, pauses, then plunges headfirst into the water for a fish. Their calls carry over lakes, rivers, estuaries and beaches, giving away their presence even when they’re distant specks in the sky.
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In County Durham, as elsewhere, Common Terns have been hit hard by avian influenza in recent years, reducing their numbers significantly. Successful breeding in recent years in the County has been confined to managed reserves at RSPB Saltholme, WWT Washington and DWT Shibdon Pond, where active habitat management has provided safe nesting spaces. These successes highlight the value that well-managed reserves bring, not only for terns but for a whole community of wetland wildlife.
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Although often confused with their close relative, the Arctic Tern, in our county it’s the Common Tern you’re most likely to see. Arctic Terns tend to remain more coastal, while Common Terns venture inland to breed and hunt, making them familiar summer visitors at reservoirs, lakes, wetlands and estuaries. Watching them wheel overhead, then suddenly arrow down into the water, is one of summer’s great simple pleasures.
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Have you seen Common Terns at work this year – perhaps fishing for young or gathering in flocks as the season winds down?
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We’d love to hear your observations.
More information on ​Common Terns
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E-mail: admin@durhambirdclub.org.uk
Social media tags: #DBC #DBCat50 #DurhamBirdClub #BirdOfTheWeek
#Durham #Birding #BirdwatchingUK #CountyDurhamBirds
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