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SANDYMOUNT TERN ROOST - Sean Hogan
April 2010
Before we meet again, after the summer break, one of the great sights of the autumn migration will have taken place on Sandymount
Strand when from mid-August to mid-September up to 6,000 terns will gather to roost each evening as darkness falls.
Roseate & Common Tern, Sandymount 19 Aug 2010
Photo: Dick Coombes
The terns begin to gather about an hour before dark, flock along the waterline and the numbers continue to grow as they arrive
from all directions until dark. Usually they favour the Booterstown end of the strand, but like to keep birdwatchers guessing
and often move as far north as Ringsend Nature Park. As their numbers grow they are a mass of non-stop and noisy chatter. They
settle for a minute and then for no apparent reason will wheel along the beach in their 1,000’s, always closely packed together.
Nonetheless there are always good numbers roosting on the sand long enough to allow a good scan with optics.
The communication, excited and raucous, is non-stop and to my ear reflects the joy of a successful breeding season, the high
jinks of this years chicks and the excited anticipation that all creatures have before undertaking an epic journey.
It is hard to estimate numbers but on a good evening I should think 5/6000 bird roost and I have heard estimates of 10,000.
The flock is predominately Common Terns with good number of Arctics. There have been estimates of up to 500 Roseate and the
careful ear will pick up their distinctive ‘chivvick’ call. There are usually a handful of Sandwich Terns looking a little
bemused by the level of activity.
Each year a few Black Terns appear, often late, flying in along the shoreline from Blackrock. They can be hard to spot in bad
light but there are usually a few well trained eyes that will pick them out for you.
To get the best views you should time your visit so that the rising tide is pushing the flock close to the area between Booterstown
Dart Station and Merrion Gates where you can enjoy the gathering from the sea-wall. Otherwise if you put on your wellies and amble
across the sands from the Strand Road car-parks to the tide-line any evening in August you will be able to get close to the action.
Just keep an eye on the tide because it comes in fast and there is a danger of the unwary being cutoff.
Last August I noticed that the numbers fluctuated quite a bit from evening to evening and this may be explained by the movement of the
fish shoals on which they feed along the coast. I understand good numbers often roost at Skerries. Last year we thought they had
finally left in early September but were surprised on the 10th when one of the biggest roosts of the autumn occurred. But that proved
to be the final roost of the year because all was quite on the following evenings.
Roseate & Common Tern, Sandymount 19 Aug 2010
Photo: Dick Coombes
For me there is no better feeling than making my way home across the sands of Sandymount after darkness has descended, an autumnal
touch to the breeze, the terns no longer visible but very audible and my head full of the possibilities that another two months of
autumn migration will bring, along with the eagerly anticipated return of our winter waders and wildfowl. If Bloomsday occurred in
August the tern roost on Sandymount Strand might now be immortalised in Joyce’s Ulysses.
So when August comes around get out the tide timetable and wellies and I’ll see you on the Strand.
Sean Hogan
Philip Bromwell RTE & Sean Hogan filming the tern roost,
Sandymount 02 Sept 2010
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