The juvenile tern found dead in Baltray on the 6th August was a Common Tern that was ringed as a nestling at Rockabill on the 27th June 2009.  So the bird was found 25km from it's ringing site 40 days after ringing.  The cause of death is unknown.  

It was not feasible to reschedule the BBQ so apologies for that.  We would like to extend a big thank you to all the people who helped and supported the Little Tern Conservation Project in 2009.  

• Those who helped erect and dismantle the fence.
• Those who gave up their time to act as wardens.
• Those who used an alternative route for their walks and kept their dogs away or put them on a lead.
• Those who visited the project site to enquire about the project.
• Those who took part in the School Art Competition.   
• The Order of Malta who supplied a supervised group of volunteers once a week.
• The Government Agencies who gave funding and advice to the project.

To anybody who helped or supported the project in any way - THANK YOU.

We look forward to working with you all again next year. 

The BBQ due to take place this Sunday 27th has been postponed.  Apologies for any inconvenience.  We will post details here when it is rescheduled. 

Thanks again to all the volunteers who made the project such a wonderful success this year.

The end of season BBQ will be held at Baltray on Sunday next the 27th September at 4pm, weather permitting.  You need to bring your own food and refreshments, a hot BBQ and company are provided! Looking forward to seeing all the volunteers there.  Please check here for confirmation on Saturday as we will make a final decision based on the weather forecast then. 

We are hoping to have the end of season BBQ in the last week of September, weather permitting.  We will put a notice on here to confirm the date later this month. 

Here are some photos of Little Terns taken by Ollie Dyas when he was wardening in Baltray.

The fencing was dismantled and taken away yesterday.  As a lot of work was done over the past few weeks, the task yesterday was much easier and quicker than other years.  We started at 12 noon and were finished up before 4pm.  Thank you to all who helped.  Maurice and Billy were not out on Saturday but had been out last week to do some work.  Yesterday we had Tommy, Larry, Ciaran, Anto, Sylvan and Laura, Stuart and Matthew, Brendan, Eric and Aine.  A big thank you to you all and to Stuart, Michael and Matthew who are going to help Tommy to bring waste to the dump on Monday.  Also thanks to Gerard Murphy for the use of his trailer.   

Still terns at Baltray, mostly Common Terns and the numbers seemed to be less than earlier in the week. Didn't see or hear any Little Terns.  

Below are a few of Maurice Conaghy's photos, you can see more on his gallery page on this site.

Got a reply re the adult Little Tern found dead at Baltray.  It was ringed as a chick in Kilcoole on 22.06.05, so the bird was 4 years old.  I also sent off details of the juvenile found dead, the number on the ring makes me think that it is not a Kilcoole bird, so it will be interesting to see where it came from.

Was out at Baltray this morning.  There are still at least 500 terns there of mixed species.