Little Terns at Gronant
- Les Pickstock
- Jun 25
- 2 min read
The Little Terns colony on Gronant beach is ostensibly the most important UK one, normally with upwards of 350 breading pairs.
35 minutes walk from the car park in Shore Road, Gronant (W3W ///atom.dimes.everybody) and turning left at the Prestavon Sands holiday camp, is the area of the Little Tern colony. Access should be via the signposted path. People walking along the (public) beach are intercepted by the warden and ‘discouraged’. Very well guarded, it is difficult to get close to the terns and you are encouraged to use the hide - which is only open when they have volunteers available.
The hide is rather a paltry affair, up steep steps, with door opening out, knocking you backwards off the steps! Inside is room for 3 (just) but with only one small opening port to photograph through. The other windows are glazed and rather dirty.
The hide is about 5 metres above the nesting area and about 30 metres away, with multiple layers of netting around the birds. It is difficult to photograph the birds on the nests, but shots in the air are OK. Though it must be appreciated the Little Terns really are tiny so a very long lens is required.
On my visit (mid June 2025) there were no young yet, and eggs were being badly predated by crows. One of the responsibilities of the hide volunteer is to chase any crows - without disturbing the nesting terms; a rather difficult task.
Tern numbers are down by over 100 pairs this year, though the warden said they have not been affected much by avian flu. But the drop in numbers plus the predation is why they are being much more guarded over allowing public access.
Walking from Prestavon Sands towards the beach is a long boardwalk across the salt marshes where other birds can be seen (Little Egrets, Merlin, Herons and many small ones, such as Larks).
The boardwalk ends at a little shelter and a viewing platform - but it is half a mile from the Tern colony with just the empty beach to ‘view’.
You need to walk right there, along the inland side of the dunes to the warden’s hut, about 400 metres away, to check on availability of the hide - another 400 metres along.
Opposite the Shore Road car park is a nice cafe (Crofters Pantry) but the bacon butties are not recommended (maybe 5/10) but their other sandwiches are.
Well said Les. A beautiful place.