The Oysterbeds, Image Archive
This site was developed to povide nesting sites for the Little Tern which arrive each year, during the summer months, to breed in Langstone harbour. A deep lagoon surrounds two man-made gravel islands (North and South) which the Tern find attractive for nesting. The lagoon is refreshed each high tide through two weirs at the seaward side. These weirs additionally ensure the water level is retained at low tide.
The following links are thoroughly recommended .
Langstone Harbour Wildlife Blog. Blog by Jason Crook (Seasonal warden at the Oysterbed site.)
Activity Photo Diary 2010 season. These images, ordered by date and in diary form, with background information.
Common Tern (Sterna hirundo). Copyright Peter Drury 2010
Common Tern Sterna hirundoHayling IslandOysterbedsbirdsnature
Ethan Winning
on June 12, 2010Nice shot, Peter. (There should be a law against calling anything "common." First, it can't be common and be this beautiful. Second, if it's so common, why haven't I seen one - and I've looked. P.S. Got another Caspian Tern last week, but birds in general, are scarce around here. I'm putting all my time into dragonflies and marching through muck to get to the pelicans ... both of them ... at the salt marsh!)