Tom BurgessNorth East and Cumbria
Steve Lindsay
Little tern numbers at one of the UK's most important seabird colonies are down 50% as the number of people allowing their dogs to get too close to them has increased, a wildlife trust as warned.
The small seabirds have nested on the beach at Seaton Carew, near Hartlepool, every year since 2019.
In May, volunteer wardens recorded 427 cases where dogs were inside the exclusion zone and, on just one day in June, 93 breaches were noted.
The Tees Valley Wildlife Trust's little tern warden, Derek Wood, said he worried any additional stress at the site would lead to the birds abandoning their nests and not returning to the area.
There are currently 55 nesting pairs on the beach at Seaton Carew; volunteers expected there to be up to 110 pairs.
Wood said: "Total dog count in the exclusion zone for May was 427 and that is only from monitoring between 14:00 to 20:00 Monday to Friday.
"The exclusion zone is clearly not working, especially if you consider the 93 violations in one day in June."
National Trust
The warden said after years of improvement after establishing a safe area around the terns he had "no idea" why it had changed.
When the first little terns were arriving this year the protective fencing around their normal nesting ground was washed away in high tides.
The protective barrier has been repaired and the outer dog exclusion zone has been put in place on the surrounding area of beach to try to prevent any distress for the terns.
"The birds are arriving already spooked by flooding and disturbance so any additional threat will probably move them on to another site," Wood said.
Even brief incidents can cause adult birds to leave their nests, leaving eggs and chicks vulnerable, he said.
Little terns, the smallest of the bird group in the UK, typically leave Seaton Carew in mid-to-late August, having migrated from West Africa.
They are currently classed as being in the "amber" category on the UK list of conservation concern.
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