Volunteers help out at Coquet Island
A team of volunteers and staff from Northumberland Wildlife Trust has returned to Coquet Island, off the Northumberland Coast, to assist the RSPB with a number of management tasks which are vital to the successful breeding of the terns and other birds on the site.
Coquet Island volunteers: from left, Peter Waugh, Bob Shaw, Alex Zeller (NWT), Morris Selby, Heather O'Neill (NWT), Peter Holt, Dennis Neal, Brian Copland, Geoff Dobbins (NWT) and Matthew Poole
The group spent the whole day strimming and raking up areas of long matted grass to open up some of the breeding plots. It was a race against time to complete the work before the tide dropped and the boat returned to Amble.
Lou Chapman, Northumberland Wildlife Trust volunteer co-ordinator said: "Wildlife knows no boundaries so our volunteers were more than happy to assist the RSPB again with its vital conservation work on the island.
"The project provided them with a wonderful opportunity to set foot, for a second time, on an island which is closed to members of the public. The work was hard, the weather wasn't great but the birds were spectacular but it is great to know that their efforts will greatly benefit the birds next year."
Paul Morrison, RSPB's Coquet Island site manager said: "Managing the vegetation is a crucial part of providing the best habitat for the four species of terns that nest on Coquet Island.
"The arrival of the Northumberland Wildlife Trust's team onto Coquet was a welcome sight and an excellent practical way of forging strong links between the RSPB and the Trust. I look forward to seeing the first of the terns arriving next April to take advantage of the nesting plots we have all helped to provide."
Coquet Island is a very important breeding site for seabirds including the rare and protected roseate tern as well as arctic, common and Sandwich terns and puffins. Visitors are not allowed on the island due to the sensitivity of the bird colonies but they can be viewed from boat tours as well as at some of Northumberland Wildlife Trust's coastal reserves along Druridge Bay which they use for feeding and bathing.
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