2024 was the third most successful breeding year for Common Terns at Presqu’ile in the last 17 years. The colony was the largest it has been during this period: 282 nests were laid at Gull Island this year and nesting started very early in the season. Thus, in June, Common Tern fledglings were already congregating on the beach. Park staff expanded the number of predator grids to protect the majority of the colony.

Unfortunately, at the end of June a predatory Black-crowned Night Heron managed to infiltrate some of the grids and ate and killed some of the tern chicks remaining there. This prevented the year from being an unprecedented success but, even so, at least 165 Common Tern chicks fledged from Presqu’ile in 2024.

We also trialed a few different approaches to deter this predator and have developed several modifications to exclude this individual, which appeared unusually determined to breach the grid protections. We look forward to 2025, when many of a bumper cohort of chicks fledged at Presqu’ile in 2022 should return to breed. We are confident that we can expand grid protections to facilitate continued colony growth and productivity, while minimizing the impact of this night heron.