Record ringing season for terns at Forvie

The season's ringing total, announced on 4 August, includes more than 1,000 Sandwich terns, over 100 Arctic terns, and smaller numbers of common terns and black-headed gulls. It is the highest figure recorded at the reserve.

Forvie carries more weight than its size suggests. Half of Scotland's breeding Sandwich terns nest there, along with a fifth of the country's breeding black-headed gulls. All of these species are declining nationally, and Arctic tern sits on the red list for birds of conservation concern.

Each year staff and volunteers put up an enclosure on the south of the reserve to keep nests clear of disturbance. Reserve manager Catriona Reid said chick productivity had been high this season, and thanked the ringing group's volunteers along with visitors who respected the seasonal closure at south Forvie.

Ringing tracks movement and survival. That gets more useful, not less, as the pressures on seabirds pile up.