The first returning birds at Otley Gravel Pits were on 13th April. From this date up to five birds were regularly seen here with three breeding attempts being made, all of which were unsuccessful. Elsewhere two birds were at Yeadon Tarn in April and up to five there in May.

Elland Gravel Pits held singles on 18th, 24th April, 9th May, and 24th June with five on 27th April and two on 2nd July. Another singleton was at Thornton Moor Reservoir on 27th April and two birds at Chelker Reservoir on 21st May.
The last sighting for the year was one bird at Lindley Wood Reservoir on 15th October.

A comparatively quiet year.
The first returning bird was seen at Thornton Moor Reservoir on 18th April. On 1st May, a day of significant movement of sterna species, Yeadon Tarn had a single with the Arctic Tern flock, two birds returned to Otley Wetland, and a bird was seen over Queensbury.

At Otley Wetland, a pair reared two chicks, both of which were ringed (PR), and up to five birds were present at Yeadon Tarn throughout the summer, with the final sighting on 6th July.

Elsewhere, in July up to two birds were at Knotford Nook, and on 18th at Doe Park Reservoir, with three seen at Thornton Moor Reservoir on the same date. The final record was a bird at Cold Edge Dams on 10th October.

Apart from regular sightings at Otley Wetland, birds were seen only intermittently at nine other locations, and it may be there has been a dip in the fortunes of this species locally. In particular, there were very few reports from Yeadon Tarn, where good numbers of birds have summered in recent years.

The first bird was seen at Elland Gravel Pits on 14th April. Up to three birds were then seen at Otley Wetland during April and May, and a pair was seen mating on 5th May, with this resulting in breeding success, and two young being ringed. What were clearly birds on passage were seen between 17th May and 10th September at Yeadon Tarn, Shipley, Elland Gravel Pits, Otley Wetland, Larkfield Tarn, and the reservoirs at Leeshaw, Lower Laithe, Thornton Moor, Silsden and Doe Park. Four birds were the most seen at any time.

A juvenile bird was present with an adult in the Doe Park sighting, but there is no suggestion breeding took place locally.

Last year’s Report suggested a possible downturn in the abundance of this species locally. The records for 2006 rather confirm this, or possibly indicate less coverage of the locations where birds were usually regular.

Whatever the reason, apart from two juvenile birds on passage at Warley Moor Reservoir on 28th July (the final sighting), the remaining eight records all came from Otley Wetland, and most of these clearly refer to the regular breeding pair. These had returned by at least 2nd May (and may well have been the birds seen on 26th April), and raised one young. Numbers were augmented only on 28th June, when a party of four birds passed through.

Whilst the species is just about maintaining its presence in the Group area, numbers are generally down, and most of the records seem to refer to the resident Otley Wetland birds. In any event, all the reports originate from here, Leeshaw Reservoir or Yeadon Tarn, where the year’s first was seen on 27th April, followed on 4th May by two birds apparently pairing, but they weren’t seen again.

The following day a pair was back at Otley Wetland, and copulation was noted, but breeding doesn’t seem to have occurred. There were more reports of these birds during May, with presumably one and two different ones on 27th July and 9th October. The Leeshaw records both concerned passage birds: one on 11th June and three on 15th July.

An unspecifically identified sterna tern was seen at Otley Wetland on 1st May, and three flew over Oxenhope ten days later.