Seabirds under threat from Avian flu and climate change begin to thrive again at Hartlepool's RSPB Saltholme

The award-winning nature reserve, on the edge of Hartlepool, is one of the most important sites for breeding and wintering birds in the North-East.

And it has stepped up again with the development of two islands that provide ideal conditions for the birds and their chicks as they battle with challenges to their survival which include changes in climate and disease.

Work was recently completed on transforming an existing island in Back Saltholme Pool, which had become overgrown and unsuitable for nesting, while a brand-new island has also been constructed to provide extra nesting space.

Both islands have been topped with gravel, so these threatened seabirds now have safe places to raise their chicks.

The wetlands of RSPB Saltholme were home to 220 pairs of common terns and around 1,200 pairs of black-headed gulls in 2022.

Both species are on the amber list of “birds of conservation concern” and Roseate Terns are red-listed due to their severe long-term decline in breeding numbers.

Like many other seabirds, all three species were then badly hit by Avian Influenza in 2022 and 2023.

Saltholme’s breeding birds died in large numbers on the nature reserve with many of those that survived abandoning their nests, leaving only 34 pairs of common tern bred remaining in 2023.

Fast forward to 2024 and common tern numbers have doubled to 79 breeding pairs while the black-headed gulls have returned to just over 1,000 breeding pairs.

Birds that nest in colonies such as these are vulnerable to infectious diseases and other threats and, by providing alternative nesting sites, conservationists now hope these new nesting islands will reduce the risk of an entire colony being lost.

Middlesbrough company ZTL Contracting carried out the works at RSPB Saltholme and its construction director, Andrew Blighe, is delighted with the results.

Andrew said: “It’s been a challenging but rewarding job and fantastic to work on a project that will, in time, deliver positive results for nature in our region.

"We hope to come back next year and see these islands full of seabirds”.

Chris Francis, senior site manager at RSPB Saltholme, said: “Common terns and black-headed gulls have bred at RSPB Saltholme in 2024, but we have missed the chaos and noise of the thriving colonies that we had here before which were so badly affected by Avian flu

“The new islands will help these birds recover their numbers and, by spreading them out across different breeding sites, reduce the risk of losing birds to Avian Influenza and other threats in the future.

"The sights, sounds, and smells of a seabird colony are one of the nature highlights of the UK and our colonies are some of the most important in the world".

“It is vital that we do everything that we can to support our seabirds’ recovery.”

The RSPB received funding from Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme Capital Grant Scheme for the work through the Terning It Up project.