Post-fledging dispersal of juvenile Sandwich Terns from Lady's Island Lake, County Wexford, Ireland. Issue 1 (2nd January 2020) - Murray, Tony
ABSTRACT: Lady's Island Lake, County Wexford, is Ireland's largest Sandwich Tern colony. Once chicks fledge, they leave the colony and become relatively scarce locally. This project set out to establish where the young birds go, and for how long. Field-readable rings were used from 2015 to 2019 and five years' worth of post-fledging dispersal data are analysed from field records. While birds depart in all directions, a significant proportion moves northward into the Irish Sea, with a preference for the eastern side of the Irish Sea.