Seabirds rebound in Solent after bird flu wipeout — SkimNews
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- Sandwich terns returned to Pagham Harbour with 756 breeding pairs in 2025, up from zero after the 2022 avian flu outbreak eliminated the colony.
- RSPB staff and volunteers implemented predator-excluding fencing, vegetation management, and nest monitoring across 52,000 hectares of Solent coastline to support shorebird recovery.
- Black-headed gulls fledged 504 young in 2026, a tenfold increase from 51 in 2025, at Pagham Harbour and West Hayling reserves.
- Little terns, ringed plovers, oystercatchers, and avocets all showed population increases along the Solent, with avocets nesting on newly constructed islands at Ferry Pool.
- Floating rafts deployed at RSPB Medmerry and West Hayling provided predator-free nesting sites for common terns and black-headed gulls, boosting breeding success.
- Wez Smith, RSPB senior project manager, credited multi-year conservation action for the recovery, noting the turnaround began in 2024 after total breeding failure in 2022.
Why it matters: The rapid rebound of seabird populations—from total local collapse to record breeding numbers—demonstrates that intensive, on-the-ground conservation can reverse ecological damage within years. For the RSPB and Blue Marine Foundation, this validates the Solent Seascape project’s approach at a time when avian flu remains a persistent threat to coastal species.
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