Last year on the Bird’s Barrel, where, as every year, terns nested, we had mortalities, most likely related to the rampant bird flu virus. The initial broods established by the terns in May and June ended tragically. During inspections of the island we found dead adult and juvenile terns.
The next inspections already carried out in July and August were much more promising. The young birds were growing up fast, their parents fed them regularly with fish and they were about to fly out of the Bird’s Barrel high above the water. In this situation, we decided that we would ring the young terns to find out their further fate and condition after the virus attacked the whole colony. It turned out that in August young terns from the islands of Bird’s Barrel and Bird’s Saucepan, where there was a similar situation, were resting on the dam of Goczałkowice Reservoir.
Recently, we received information that one young tern six months after ringing, alive and healthy was photographed in the KWAZULU-NATAL province of South Africa. This location is almost 9 000 km away from the Bird’s Barrel! Such information confirms that the efforts of all project beneficiaries, even in the face of unexpected adversity, are translating into the result that was intended.
