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Dive-Bombing Terns Face the Final Sanction Go-Ahead to Smash Protected Birds' Eggs

Posted on: Tuesday, 19 July 2005, 09:00 CDT

THE eggs of Arctic terns are to be destroyed in an attempt to stop the birds dive-bombing workers in a north-east town.

The Scottish Executive has given permission for the move, despite the terns' being an endangered species and enjoying government protection.

The problem is that the birds, which once lived happily at the St Cyrus National Nature Reserve, have decided that the roofs of businesses on an industrial estate at Montrose make a more desirable place to spend their summers.

Their protective instinct means they dive-bomb workers on the estate, in scenes that some have likened to Hitchcock's film, The Birds.

Businesses have funded the creation of false rooftops at the nature reserve to encourage the birds to relocate, while primary school children have made decoy terns to draw them to their new home. Experts from Scottish Natural Heritage have used a hawk and played audio recordings of rival gulls to try to drive the terns away. But all measures have been in vain.

Bird experts believe the terns may have chosen their new home to avoid foxes, stoats and rats. In an effort to keep such predators away from the nesting areas, electric fencing has been erected around the false rooftops in the nature reserve.

As soon as the birds begin incubating their eggs they become fiercely territorial, attacking anything that moves near the nesting site.

Keith Webb, branch manager of Jewson, one of the Montrose companies affected, said:

"I have counted 60 to 70 pairs back on our three roofs. We've been granted a licence again to try and keep them on the move, which means men going up on the roofs every second day and making sure the nests are all disturbed.

"We were advised at the start of this project, when we brought in the hawks, that the birds would likely be back, but that numbers should keep reducing year on year."

Jennifer Mann, 37, a material controller at Halliburton, another firm with premises on the estate, said: "Last year it was an absolutely terrifying experience, just coming to work. I told my bosses that I couldn't come in, not with those birds screaming above your head and dive-bombing you. I couldn't stand another year like the last."

Colin McNairn, a warehouse worker at Halliburton, said:

"They started to lay their eggs on the ground in among the piping and you wouldn't dare go over there unless you had to.

"They swoop to within a few inches of your head before turning around and having another go at you. Most of the women used umbrellas to go across the car park."

Ian Langford, SNH's area officer for Angus, said: "This is an important colony of birds, but it's obviously not in the right place. The safety of staff and visitors to the factories at Montrose has to be taken into consideration. There is a handy site just up the road at SNH's St Cyrus national nature reserve. We think that the Arctic terns will find a happy home there if we can just persuade them to move."

RSPB Scotland has criticised the latest move as "drastic".

"It is worth remembering these birds have travelled all the way from the southern hemisphere to nest here, " a spokesman said."Birds sometimes nest on roofs because they feel safe and secure and it is up to the owners of buildings to deter them."

A Scottish Executive spokeswoman said: "We are aware of the problem at this site where an estimated 300 pairs of birds are nesting at one property alone.

"SNH is working with local companies and local environment groups to implement long-term measures to prevent the terns from returning to the site, and attract them to more suitable nature reserves and other sites nearby.

"Non-lethal methods have been deployed to address the problem but licences have been issued to remove bird's eggs/nests, given the clear risk to public safety through the activities of the birds in this particular area."

Last week golf competitors in the NatWest Island Games incurred the wrath of Arctic terns as they made their way round the Whalsay course in Shetland, the most northerly course in Britain.

The birds are nesting near the fourth fairway and divebombed the golfers as they made their way down.

Source: Herald, The; Glasgow (UK)

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