Since 1976, special protection has been afforded to the little tern Sterna albifrons at Gibraltar Point, through the employment of a shorebird warden and the establishment of a shorebird sanctuary from which the public are excluded.  Under a Bird Sanctuary Order, an extensive area of mixed shingle, dune and saltmarsh is fenced off and marked with appropriate signs from mid April to the end of July.  The majority of nesting terns invariably occur within the sanctuary, along with an important population of ringed plover Charadrius hiaticula and other notable species such as breeding redshank Tringa totanus, skylark Alauda arvensis and reed bunting Emberiza schoeniclus. Feeding and roosting waders, gulls and terns also benefit from this reduced disturbance.

The zonation works well, with visitors channelled onto the sandy beach, north of the sanctuary area.  Nesting shorebirds at the north end of the reserve are difficult to warden; isolated pairs of little tern and ringed plover may occur from the southern tip of Greenshank’s ridge up to one and a half kilometres to the north (ie beyond the NNR boundary).  Whilst regular monitoring is carried out here, the policy is not to draw attention to the birds, through the instatement of protection measures.  The number of visitors which traverse the shingle plateaux are a fraction of those which use the foreshore south of Greenshank’s Creek.  The risk of significant damage or disturbance being caused by walkers is quite low and most of the recorded clutch losses here are attributable to predation, by fox or crows.

If a greater number of terns colonise this area in the future, then it may be necessary to redeploy resources accordingly.  Meantime it is important to take measures to deter a growing band of trials bikers and ATV users from disturbing the nesting shorebirds and the integrity of the shingle. Dialogue has been achieved with the ‘beach ferry’ operator after this vehicle was driven across the shingle in 1999.

Since 1999, a seasonal dog ban has applied to the beach on the NNR, during the nesting season. This serves to reduce disturbance to shore-nesting birds, feeding waders and common seal pups as well as helping to ensure a clean beach for visitors.

The seasonal ban is clearly marked and enforced at the south, but difficult to enforce effectively at the north end of the NNR, where boundary bisects the intertidal zone.

A wardening system involves a 24 hour presence at the shorebird sanctuary, to provide a deterrent against egg collectors.   Staff and volunteers are based at the warden’s hut.  This becomes quite a focal point for visitors during the nesting period and the shorebird warden plays an important role in public relations and dissemination of information.  The sanctuary is monitored from this base, bylaws are enforced, shorebird breeding attempts are recorded and protection methods employed.

Whilst damage and disturbance from visitors is minimised, predation of shorebird eggs and chicks is a perennial problem, particularly involving foxes and to a lesser extent, corvids.

Locally nesting magpies Pica pica can usually be identified and controlled if the need arises. Crows Corvus corone rarely breed on the reserve, but problems can occur with small numbers of presumed non-breeding birds and these are difficult to control.  Other avian predators are usually less significant, but during the late 1980’s, a merlin Falco columbarius targeted fledgling terns.

Foxes are the most problematic of all predators.  The reaction of the terns to nocturnal terrestrial predators is unknown.  The results are unquestionable though.

Efforts made to deter foxes include the use of electric flexi-net around nests and cages around individual ringed plover nests.  This gives a high level of protection whilst at the egg stage.  However chicks are moved away by the adults, soon after hatching and become vulnerable.

Supplementary feeding initiatives have been carried out experimentally, whereby rabbit corpses are left out for foxes, to take the pressure off the colony.  Attempts at fox control have been met with limited success due to several constraints.

The shorebird protection scheme absorbs significant resources in terms of staff, volunteers and material costs.  Protection methods can be quite intensive and productivity low.  The pressures faced by this species on migration and on the wintering grounds may cause further impacts on the population, which are outside of our control.

Without intensive wardening schemes, favourable conservation status of the species may depend upon species specific habitat creation as part of a wider conservation scheme i.e. a predator free shingle island in a saline lagoon.  If the number of nesting pairs drops significantly at Gibraltar Point, then it may be attributable to the lure of more suitable habitat elsewhere.  The deployment of staffing resources to the scheme will be reviewed accordingly.