A Denbighshire bird colony has celebrated its 20th anniversary with a successful season.

The Denbighshire Countryside Service has managed the Little Tern colony at Gronant Dunes for two decades.

The site is the largest breeding colony in Wales and contributes to more than 10 per cent of the entire UK breeding population.

Little Terns are rare summer visitors who spend the winter in Africa.

They arrive at the dunes in May to breed on the shingled beach and begin their journey south at the end of August.

Their nests, consisting of just a scrape in the sand, house one to three eggs.

The birds feed exclusively on sand eels, which they fish for at sea.

To protect the breeding Little Terns, eleven electric fenced pens and a section of strap fencing were constructed.

A boundary fence was also put in place to prevent public access to the colony.

However, visitors could still view the birds from a visitor centre and bird hide.

This season saw 166 breeding pairs recorded and a total of 158 fledglings, a slight increase in the number of young seen during the 2023 season.

The Little Terns visitor centre hosted 1,140 visitors to the designated viewing points, and 115 people engaged in the project via trips and visits to the site.

Volunteers from the North Wales Little Tern Group, Denbighshire Countryside Services, and Merseyside Ringing Group logged 867 volunteering hours throughout the season.

Garry Davies, countryside officer and county allotments manager said: "This project is so much more than the protection of a very rare seabird.

"Volunteer participation at the colony is higher than any other activity offered by Countryside Services, and visiting the colony has become inclusive with a conscious effort to include schools and residents from the more disadvantaged areas in Denbighshire."

He also highlighted a special achievement this season: "This season has been extra special in that avocets successfully bred at Gronant for the very first time.

"A key species in the story of conservation, the avocet represents an amazing recovery of a bird once extinct in the UK.

"Under the watchful eye of Denbighshire Council staff and volunteers, two avocet chicks successfully fledged on Denbighshire’s coastline for the first time ever, and everybody involved should feel justifiably proud of their efforts."

Councillor Barry Mellor, lead member for environment and transport and biodiversity champion, said: "This is fantastic news to hear the number of fledglings has risen at this important colony in Denbighshire.

"All credit must go to the hard work of our countryside teams and the fantastic volunteers who do so much to protect and support this important colony based in Denbighshire."