philanthropy / 2026-10-19
At Pagham Harbour, a tern colony’s return reflects the patient work of conservation
At least 756 pairs of Sandwich Terns bred at the West Sussex reserve in 2026, according to an RSPB account published in September. Renewed coverage today highlights a recovery built around maintained nesting habitat—not proof that disease risk has disappeared.
The Guardian revisited the Solent’s seabird recovery on October 19. The underlying field results are from the 2026 breeding season, rather than a new autumn census. At Pagham Harbour in West Sussex, they offer an encouraging example of conservation work whose value accumulates across seasons.
The RSPB’s September 28 account reports at least 756 breeding pairs of Sandwich Terns at Pagham Harbour in 2026. The colony was abandoned during the 2022 avian-flu outbreak. These are pairs, not chicks; their return does not establish that disease risk has disappeared.
The account describes hundreds of hours of work, including nesting-island maintenance, vegetation management, exclusion fencing and biosecurity measures. This continuing habitat work forms part of the multi-partner Solent Seascape Project.
Recovery is not necessarily permanent. These results do not isolate each technique’s contribution or guarantee another strong season. They make a case for valuing monitoring and routine maintenance alongside more visible conservation milestones.
Readers near the reserve can explore RSPB’s official working-party volunteer opportunity for Pagham Harbour, Medmerry and the Eastern Solent. It describes practical habitat work and visitor-infrastructure tasks within a supervised team. Check current availability, physical requirements and the role’s arrangements before applying; an interest in wildlife is a starting point, not permission to undertake independent habitat or animal management.
Visitors can help without handling a tool. RSPB asks people to keep to designated rights of way, keep dogs under close control where permitted and avoid disturbing groups of birds. Landing on the harbour’s islands is prohibited. Consult the reserve’s current guidance before setting out, since an attractive viewpoint is not necessarily a place wildlife can tolerate people approaching.
Support can be modest and specific: volunteer through the reserve, share its visitor guidance, or make a commitment to observing from an appropriate distance. Giving birds space and helping habitat remain usable are constructive actions even when there is no dramatic rescue to photograph.
Featured image: a Sandwich Tern carrying a lesser sand eel at Brownsea Island, Dorset, photographed by Charles J. Sharp in May 2023. This archival photograph depicts the species, not the 2026 Pagham colony. Reused unmodified under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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Sources
- RSPB Winchester Local Group — 2026 breeding results, updated September 28 ↗
- The Guardian — renewed coverage of Solent seabird recovery, October 19, 2026 ↗
- RSPB — official Pagham Harbour reserve and visitor guidance ↗
- RSPB — practical reserve-work volunteer opportunity ↗
Original reporting synthesis by The Raines Foundation, based on the sources above.