Solent Seabird Colonies Recover After 2022 Avian Flu Crisis

Following a complete colony collapse due to bird flu in 2022, sandwich terns nesting at Pagham Harbour, West Sussex, have made a remarkable recovery, with breeding pairs rising from zero to 756 in just three years thanks to targeted conservation efforts across the Solent.

Parallel gains have been observed across several ground-nesting species, including little terns, ringed plovers, oystercatchers and black-headed gulls, along the same coastline. This recovery stems from RSPB-led initiatives at Pagham Harbour nature reserve, complemented by broader conservation work spanning 52,000 hectares (128,000 acres) of coastal and estuarine habitat from the south coast to the Isle of Wight.

This summer, the sandwich tern colony at Pagham Harbour fledged 570 young, marking one of the largest breeding successes recorded in the Solent region. Black-headed gull numbers surged tenfold, from 51 fledglings in 2025 to 504 in 2026, while little tern breeding pairs climbed from 21 to 34 year-on-year.

Avocets also thrived, with 18 pairs nesting on newly formed islands within a saline lagoon at Ferry Pool, providing safer breeding grounds for shorebirds. Supplementary conservation measures included predator-excluding fencing, rodent monitoring, regular patrols to reduce nest disturbance, and selective vegetation management to create additional nesting habitat.

Rangers and volunteers have conducted outreach to inform visitors and local communities of the sensitivity of ground-nesting birds to disturbance, establishing dog-free zones away from nesting areas to minimise disruption.

At the adjacent RSPB Medmerry reserve, floating nesting rafts have created predator-safe spaces for common terns and black-headed gulls, shielding them from dog and boat disturbance. Similar raft installations at West Hayling, another Hampshire RSPB coastal site, have likewise supported a rise in common tern breeding numbers.

These initiatives form part of the Solent Seascape project, a long-term partnership coordinated by the Blue Marine Foundation aimed at restoring coastal nesting sites, seagrass meadows, oyster reefs and saltmarsh along the coastline.

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