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Fox attack hits Dorset little tern colony amid its highest pair count since 2001

Conservation: Population & status, Threats, Management

Chesil Beach in Dorset recorded 66 breeding pairs of little terns (Sternula albifrons) in 2026. That was 11 more pairs than in 2025 and the colony’s highest count since 2001. Chesil is the only little tern colony in south-west England, so the increase is notable locally. But it does not mean the species has recovered nationally: the RSPB says UK numbers have fallen by 39% since the 1980s.

The RSPB reported that a fox probably entered the colony through a defective fence. Its report does not say how many nests or chicks were lost, so the scale of the incident’s effect on the season is unknown.

Some of the terns went on to have second broods, and around 20–25 chicks fledged—that is, they survived long enough to leave the nest and fly. The number of breeding pairs records how many pairs bred at the site; the fledgling count describes an outcome for their young. The project monitors both, along with human disturbance, to track breeding activity and how the season goes for the chicks.

Sources and image credit

  1. Little tern comeback colony hit by fox attackReport of the 2026 Chesil Beach breeding season. Pair-count and fledgling figures, and the predation account, are attributed to the RSPB.
  2. Little Tern ProjectProject background: identifies RSPB management and says the team monitors breeding pairs, fledglings and human disturbance during the season.

Image: Two Little Terns (Sternula albifrons) on a shingle beach, with one bird holding a small fish in its bill. Photo: Andy Morffew from Itchen Abbas, Hampshire, UK / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0. Representative photograph. · CC BY 2.0 · Source

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