Proposed marine extension to the Ythan , Sands of Forvie and Meikle Loch Special Protection Area (SPA) NO. UK9002221

SPA Site Selection Document: The scientific case for the extension to the site

Document version control

Version and Amendments made and author Issued to date and date Version 1 Formal advice submitted to Marine on Marine draft SPA. Nigel Buxton & Greg Mudge. Scotland 10/07/14 Version 2 Updated to reflect change in site status from draft Marine to proposed in preparation for possible formal Scotland consultation. 30/06/15 Shona Glen, Tim Walsh & Emma Philip Version 3 Creation of new site selection document. Emma Susie Whiting Philip 17/05/16 Version 4 Document updated to address requirements of Greg revised format agreed by Marine Scotland. Mudge Kate Thompson & Emma Philip 21/06/16 Version 5 Quality assured Emma Greg Mudge Philip 22/6/16 Version 6 Final draft for approval Andrew Emma Philip Bachell 22/06/16 Version 7 Final version for submission to Marine Scotland Marine Scotland, 24/06/16 Contents

1. Introduction ...... 1 2. Site summary ...... 2 3. Bird survey information ...... 4 4. Assessment against the UK SPA Selection Guidelines ...... 5 5. Site status and boundary ...... 7 6. Information on qualifying species ...... 8 7. References ...... 12 Annex 1. Site map ...... 13 Annex 2. Citation ...... 14

1. Introduction

This document provides Scottish Natural Heritage’s (SNH) advice on the proposed classification of a marine extension to the existing Ythan Estuary, Sands of Forvie and Meikle Loch Special Protection Area (SPA) for foraging breeding . It summarises the evaluation for each of the species of interest according to the SPA site selection guidelines (JNCC, 1999) and provides an overview of how the site extension boundary was developed.

The marine extension to Ythan Estuary, Sands of Forvie and Meikle Loch SPA has been selected to provide protection to important foraging grounds used for feeding, by breeding Sandwich terns and little terns. The protection of these inshore waters will make a key contribution to the maintenance of these species in their natural range in UK marine waters and form part of a coherent network of sites at a European level.

The importance of the marine environment for birds which spend all or part of their lives around our coasts is well recognised, particularly in Scotland. A total of 106 species of bird are thought to use UK marine waters of which 45 occur in numbers greater than fifty each year and are dependent on the marine environment for a large part of their lifecycle. All of these 45 species except one (black guillemot1) are considered rare or vulnerable bird species (Annex 1), or regularly occurring migratory species by the Birds Directive (EC Directive on the conservation of wild birds (amended) - 2009/147/EC). This means that all Member States are obliged to take account of the requirements of Article 4.1 of the Birds Directive for each of these 44 species.

Article 4.1 states that “Member States shall classify in particular the most suitable territories in number and size as special protection areas for the conservation of these species, taking into account their protection requirements in the geographical sea and land area where this Directive applies”. European Commission guidance on the establishment of SPAs in the marine environment (2007) sets out the groups of marine birds for which SPAs should be considered in the marine environment. This includes foraging sites for breeding terns.

In the UK, whilst some coastal SPAs include marine waters below the Mean High Water Springs (MHWS) there are only four entirely marine SPAs classified; Outer Thames Estuary SPA (England), Liverpool Bay/Bae Lerpwl SPA (England/Wales) and Bae Caerfyrddin/Carmarthen Bay SPA (Wales) and Belfast Lough - Open Water SPA (Northern Ireland). In Scotland, 31 marine extensions to seabird colony SPAs have also been classified. The existing suite of sites is not considered sufficient to meet the requirements of Article 4.1 because it currently does not include suitable territories at sea for all of the species that the UK has a responsibility for.

1 Nature Conservation Marine Protected Areas were designated in August 2014 for black guillemot.

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The marine extension to Ythan Estuary, Sands of Forvie and Meikle Loch SPA is being proposed as part of a suite of marine sites that aim to fulfil the requirements for SPAs in the marine environment for rare or vulnerable birds and regularly occurring migratory birds in the UK. As required by Article 4 of the Directive, the classification of this site will enable the application of special conservation measures concerning the of Annex 1 and regularly occurring migratory birds in order to ensure their survival and reproduction in their area of distribution.

Full details of the site survey methodologies, data and analysis used to inform the proposed selection of this site are provided in Wilson et al 2014, Win et al 2015 and Parsons et al 2015. All scientific work received full external independent peer review at key stages.

2. Site summary

The Ythan Estuary, Sands of Forvie and Meikle Loch Special Protection Area covers a complex area in the north east of Scotland that contains the long, narrow estuary of the , the Sands of Forvie on the east bank of the estuary; and the eutrophic Meikle Loch.

The existing Ythan Estuary, Sands of Forvie and Meikle Loch terrestrial SPA supports a breeding population of European importance of the following Annex 1 species:  Sandwich (Sterna sandvicensis)  Little tern (Sternula albifrons)

The proposal is to add a marine extension to this SPA to encompass the foraging areas used by these terns breeding at this colony.

The linear coast immediately north of is intersected by three large rivers; the Dee, Don and Ythan. To the north the coast is cliff but to the south of the Sand of Forvie and the Ythan, as far as Aberdeen, it is long sandy beaches with relatively shallow water inshore (Barne et al 1996). Five to 10 kilometres (km) offshore the seabed shelves steeply, with the predominantly sandy sediments continuing out past these depths. Tidal flows are stronger than those to the north in the more enclosed Moray Firth and typical of those of open coasts of northern Britain. The seas off north –east Scotland support a broad diversity of both pelagic (mackerel, herring, sprat) and demersal fish (cod, whiting, haddock and sandeels). Many of these species spawn in the area or have inshore nursery areas for the juvenile stages.

Sandwich and little terns are summer migrants to Scotland, wintering off West Africa. They feed by plunge diving headfirst into water from flight, often hovering first, to catch individual prey in the upper surface waters. Both species feed predominantly on small fish and during the breeding season target small nutritious species, such as

2 sandeels, to feed to their young. Sandwich terns are considerably larger than little terns and forage over distances of 10s of kilometres whereas little terns feed in very shallow waters within 10km of their colonies.

Figure 1.Location of the proposed marine extension to the Ythan Estuary, Sands of Forvie and Meikle Loch SPA

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3. Bird survey information

Work to identify foraging areas for terns focussed on regularly occupied tern colony SPAs. These colonies have already been identified as holding >1% of the GB populations of these Annex 1 species. Marine area within the birds foraging ranges will provide essential foraging habitat for the breeding colony SPA populations.

Little tern2 The approach taken to identification of important foraging areas for little tern was the use of shore-based and boat-based survey work which allowed characterisation of the distances that little terns fly along the coast and out to sea from their colonies when foraging during the chick-rearing period. Little terns from the Sands of Forvie colony were surveyed both from boats and the shore (Parsons et al 2015). Boat- based surveys were undertaken on 8th and 10th June 2011. Shore based surveys of little terns to underpin modelling were carried out on 15th, 18th, 23rd and 26th June 2009; 3rd, 10th, 17th June and 2nd July 2010; and 23rd and 28th June 2011.

The shore-based surveys generated several hundred observations which enabled a colony-specific assessment of foraging distance along the coast. Insufficient data were obtained from the boat-based surveys to provide a site-specific model of the distances that little terns forage out to sea from the Sands of Forvie colony. Instead, a generic model was developed from analyses of cumulative proportion of observations for all colonies pooled against distance from colony. The metric which best represented generic seaward extent, encompassing 97% of all records, was found to be the mean of the mean maximum extent obtained for each site.

Sandwich tern3 Visual tracking data were collected from 51 Sandwich terns from the Sands of Forvie colony between 6th and 30th June 2011 as part of a wider three-year programme for larger terns across the UK. This work included 6 SPAs (and one additional colony) with breeding Sandwich tern and was used to determine mean maximum foraging range of Sandwich terns at UK colonies and to characterise their foraging distribution in relational to environmental factors. Generalised Linear Models were used to model habitat preference and to generate estimates of usage4 around each colony within mean maximum foraging range (32km for Sandwich tern).

2 Full details of the methodologies, data and analysis used are provided in the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) Report 548: Parsons et al 2015 and the JNCC generic document ‘Identification of important marine areas for little terns. JNCC Report 548 received full external independent peer review. 3 Full details of the methodologies, data and analysis used are provided in the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) Report 500: Wilson et al 2014 and supplement: Win et al 2015 and the JNCC generic document ‘Identification of important marine areas for larger terns. JNCC Report 500 received full external independent peer review. 4 Defined as “the predicted relative density of foraging birds in different areas. The values of usage represent the ratio of use to availability” 4

4. Assessment against the UK SPA Selection Guidelines

The UK SPA Selection Guidelines establish a two stage process for SPA identification (JNCC, 1999). Stage 1 identifies areas which are likely to regularly hold important numbers of birds and therefore qualify for SPA status.

Stage 1

To qualify under Stage 1 the area needs to meet one or more of the following four guidelines:

1.1. The area is used regularly by 1% or more of the population of a species listed in Annex I to the Birds Directive in any season. 1.2. The area is used regularly by 1% or more of the biogeographical population of a regularly occurring migratory species (other than those listed in Annex I) in any season. 1.3. The area is used regularly by over 20,000 waterbirds (waterbirds as defined by the ) or 20,000 seabirds in any season. 1.4. The area meets the requirements of one or more of the Stage 2 guidelines in any season, where the application of Stage 1 guidelines 1.1-1.3 for a species does not identify an adequate suite of most suitable areas for the conservation of that species.

Additionally, it is established practice to apply a minimum threshold of 50 individuals to be regularly present on a site before it can be considered for site selection. Exception to this rule however applies where its application would preclude the selection of any suitable territories and therefore prevent the fulfilment of UK obligations under the Birds Directive.

Stage 2

Those areas that meet one or more of the Stage 1 guidelines undergo further consideration using one or more of the ecological judgements set out in Stage 2. There are seven Stage 2 judgements. These judgments are used to facilitate the selection of the most suitable areas from the areas identified at Stage 1 to produce a network of marine SPAs in Scotland. The Stage 2 judgements are:

2.1 Population size and density 2.2 Species range 2.3 Breeding success 2.4 History of occupancy 2.5 Multi-species area 2.6 Naturalness 2.7 Severe weather refuges

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Assessment against Stage 1 of the UK SPA Selection Guidelines

Sandwich tern and little tern are Annex 1 species present in numbers at or above 1% of the Great Britain population and met Stage 1.1 of the guidelines (Table 1).

Further details on the selection process and the final suite of sites being proposed is provided in the SNH supplementary document ‘Site selection of the marine SPA suite’ (SNH, 2016).

Table 1. Assessment against Stage 1 of the UK SPA Selection Guidelines.

Species and Annex 1 or Population % of GB Stage 1 season migratory size in site5 population guideline Sandwich tern Annex 1 1125 pairs 7 1.1 (breeding) Little tern Annex 1 41pairs 2 1.1 (breeding)

Assessment against Stage 2 of the UK SPA Selection Guidelines

Confirmation of the suitability of a marine extension to the existing colony SPA was provided by consideration of one or more of the Stage 2 guidelines.

Little terns are well distributed around the coast of Great Britain with the majority of birds and largest colonies are in eastern and southern England. The little tern colony at Ythan Estuary, Sands of Forvie and Meikle Loch SPA is the largest in Scotland and the only Scottish SPA colony currently regularly used. Sandwich tern colonies are sparsely distributed around the coast of Britain, with the majority of birds concentrated in just four large colonies on the coast, including this SPA which is the largest in Scotland. Both species have been present at this location for at least 80 years.

Breeding success at Ythan Estuary, Sands of Forvie and Meikle Loch SPA between 2009 and 2013 averaged 0.94 chicks fledged per pair for little terns and 0.75 for Sandwich terns6 . These productivity rates are well above the UK averages for these species7 .

Hence, within Scotland and GB, the Ythan Estuary, Sands of Forvie and Meikle Loch SPA represents the largest populations of both little and Sandwich terns in the north of their range.

5 Population estimate and %GB are as at classification (1998) of the existing Sands of Forvie, Ythan Estuary and Meikle Loch SPA. 6 SNH unpublished Sands of Forvie NNR monitoring data 7 As reported by the UK Seabird Monitoring programme – see http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-3201 6

5. Site status and boundary

The name of this site is the “Ythan Estuary, Sands of Forvie and Meikle Loch SPA”.

The proposed marine extension for foraging terns was identified on the basis of modelled distributions of both Sandwich terns and little terns.

Marine sites present no visual surface features by which a seaward boundary can be identified. A site boundary was therefore initiated by refining the bird distributions to select only the areas with the highest spatial densities. This was done by applying maximum curvature to the modelled usage data for Sandwich terns to determine a threshold usage value (0.316x10-3) below which disproportionately large areas are required to support the same number of birds8 (Win et al 2015). A line was then drawn around all cells that exceeded the usage threshold to produce a species- specific boundary.

For Sandwich terns, site-specific modelling identified correlation in distribution of foraging terns with bathymetry and stratified sea temperature. This generated an essentially linear pattern of usage with the maximum curvature boundary extending some 12km to the north and 19km to the south along the coast but just 4km out to sea (east) (Win et al 2015) (Figure 2).

For little terns, colony-specific assessment identified maximum alongshore foraging ranges of 2km to the north and 5.35km to the south. Seaward extent of foraging range was based on the generic model for this species, which identified a range of 2.18km from the coast. The foraging boundary was simply drawn as straight lines perpendicular to the coast at the alongshore extent on each side of the colony, reaching as far as the seaward extent out to sea. These lines are then joined up using a line parallel to the coast which is at the seaward extent distance from the coast (Figure 3).

The area identified as encompassing the core foraging range of Sandwich terns breeding at the Ythan Estuary, Sands of Forvie and Meikle Loch SPA fully encompasses the smaller maximum foraging area identified for little terns. Accordingly, the results of the analysis of Sandwich tern foraging distribution have driven the boundary of the proposed marine extension to this SPA. To avoid creating an over-complex boundary some rationalisation of the Sandwich tern maximum curvature boundary was required, resulting in small areas with cells not exceeding the density threshold also being included in the final boundary. Whilst these areas did not exceed the usage threshold, they are still likely to be used by foraging Sandwich terns.

The proposed marine extension covers an area of 60.51 km2 . Boundary co- ordinates for the pSPA are given on the pSPA map in Annex 1.

8 See JNCC generic document 7

6. Information on qualifying species

Sandwich tern At classification in 1998 this SPA held up to 1125 pairs, 7% of the British population, 2% of EC and Western European populations). The current mean population during the period 2009 - 2013 is 626 pairs (5.7% of the GB population – Musgrove 2013). This inshore feeding area (Figure 2) is therefore vital to the Sandwich tern in Scotland.

Population size and density Large colonies in Great Britain are rare. This colony is currently the largest in Scotland with only three other comparable colonies, all on the east coast of Great Britain, to the south in Northumberland and Norfolk.

Distribution within the site As shown in Figure 2, the modelled feeding distribution of Sandwich terns from the Ythan Estuary colony indicates an essentially linear pattern of use, running parallel to the coastline.

Species range Colonies of Sandwich tern are widely, but very sparsely, distributed round the coast of Great Britain, including the Orkney Islands. However the majority of the birds are in four areas of the east mainland coast, with those on the Ythan representing the largest breeding population in the north of their range both in Scotland and Great Britain.

History of occupancy This colony has been in existence for over 80 years; an extensive time period for a species in a group of birds which is notable for high fluctuations in breeding numbers on any single site (Baxter and Rintoul 1953, Smith 1975).

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Figure 2. The modelled foraging distribution of Sandwich terns from the Ythan Estuary, Sands of Forvie and Meikle Loch SPA

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Little tern At classification in 1998 this SPA held up to 41 pairs of little terns (2% of the GB population). Currently the mean number of pairs of little tern breeding at the SPA during the period 2009-2013 is 34 pairs (1.8% of the GB population – Musgrove et al 2013. The terrestrial site clearly met the Stage 1.1 Site Selection Guideline and, compared to many little tern populations, still supports good numbers. These birds feed immediately offshore of the colony (Figure 3) hence the marine feeding area is very important in national terms.

Population size and density The colony is currently the largest on the east coast of Scotland and one of the largest in Scotland; only a small number of localities in the Scottish west coast islands support the species and none approaches the size of the Ythan colony.

Distribution within the site As illustrated in Figure 3, little terns were found to forage within a relatively small distance from their colony.

Species range The species is well distributed around the coast of Great Britain but most, and the largest colonies forming the core of the range, are located in eastern and southern England. The colony on the Ythan Estuary and Sands of Forvie SPA is therefore an important component in the north of the range.

History of occupancy The colony has been in existence for at least 80 years (Baxter & Rintoul 1953), again an extensive time period for a species in a group of birds which is both notable for high fluctuations in breeding numbers on any single site and under severe disturbance pressure in other parts of its British range (Sharrock 1976).

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Figure 3. The modelled feeding distribution of little terns from the Ythan Estuary, Sands of Forvie and Meikle Loch SPA

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7. References

Barne, J. H., Robson, C. F., Kaznowska, S. S., Doody, J. P. & Davidson, N. C. eds 1996. Coasts and seas of the . Region 3 North-east Scotland: Cape Wrath to St Cyrus. Peterborough, Joint Nature Conservation Committee. (Coastal Directories Series.)

Baxter, E. V and Rintoul, L. J. 1953. The Birds of Scotland: their history distribution and migration. Edinburgh, Oliver and Boyd.

JNCC. 1999. The Birds Directive. Selection Guidelines for Special Protection Areas. Peterborough, JNCC. 6pp.

Musgrove, A., Aebischer, N Eaton, M., Hearn, R., Newton, S Noble S., Parsons, M., Risely, K. & Stroud, D. 2013. Population estimates of birds in Great Britain and the United Kingdom. British Birds 106; 64-100.

Parsons, M., Lawson, J., Lewis, M., Lawrence, R. & Kuepfer, A. 2015. Quantifying foraging areas of little tern around its breeding colony SPA during chick-rearing. JNCC Report No. 548. Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Peterborough.

Sharrock, J. T. R. 1976. The Atlas of Breeding Birds of Britain and Ireland. Berkhamsted.

Smith, A. J. M. 1975. Studies of breeding Sandwich Terns. Brit Birds 68: 142-156.

Wilson L. J., Black J., Brewer, M. J., Potts, J. M., Kuepfer, A., Win I., Kober K., Bingham C., Mavor R. & Webb A. 2014. Quantifying usage of the marine environment by terns Sterna sp. around their breeding colony SPAs. JNCC Report No. 500

Win, I., Wilson, L. J. and Kuepfer, A. 2015. Identification of possible marine SPA boundaries for the larger tern species around the United Kingdom. Unpublished JNCC report. June 2015. Supplement to Wilson L. J., Black J., Brewer, M. J., Potts, J. M., Kuepfer, A., Win I., Kober K., Bingham C., Mavor R. and Webb A. 2013. Quantifying usage of the marine environment by terns Sterna sp. around their breeding colony SPAS.

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Annex 1. Site map

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Annex 2. Citation

Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the conservation of wild birds (this is the codified version of Directive 79/409/EEC as amended)

CITATION FOR SPECIAL PROTECTION AREA (SPA)

YTHAN ESTUARY, SANDS OF FORVIE AND MEIKLE LOCH (UK9002221)

INCLUDING PROPOSED MARINE EXTENSION

Site Description: Ythan Estuary, Sands of Forvie and Meikle Loch SPA covers a complex area in the north east of Scotland that contains the long, narrow estuary of the River Ythan, the Sands of Forvie on the east bank of the estuary; the eutrophic Meikle Loch and a proposed marine component covering the area between Aberdeen and to the north.

The boundaries of the SPA follow those of Sands of Forvie and Ythan Estuary SSSI and the shore of Meikle Loch and Little Loch within Meikle Loch and Kippet Hills SSSI.

Qualifying Interest: Ythan Estuary, Sands of Forvie and Meikle Loch SPA qualifies under Article 4.1 by regularly supporting populations of European importance of the Annex 1 species: Sandwich tern Sterna sandvicensis (1989 to 1991, up to 1125 pairs, up to 7% of the GB population); Sterna hirundo (1989 to 1993, up to 265 pairs, up to 2% of the GB population); and little tern Sterna albifrons (1989 to 1993, up to 41 pairs, up to 2% of the GB population). The proposed marine component, immediately offshore of the terrestrial area forms the foraging zone for both Sandwich terns and little terns.

Ythan Estuary, Sands of Forvie and Meikle Loch SPA further qualifies under Article 4.2 by regularly supporting populations of European importance of the migratory species: pink-footed goose Anser brachyrhynchus (1988/89 to 1992/93 winter peak mean of 17,213 individuals, 9% of the Eastern //UK biogeographic population).

Ythan Estuary, Sands of Forvie and Meikle Loch SPA also qualifies under Article 4.2 by regularly supporting in excess of 20,000 individual waterfowl. During 1988/89 to 1992/93 the site supported a winter peak mean of 26,400 individual waterfowl, comprising 8,000 waders and 18,400 wildfowl including nationally

14 important populations of the following species: pink-footed goose (17,213 individuals, 9% of the GB population) and eider Somateria mollissima (winter peak mean of 1,860 individuals, 2% of the GB population). In the five-year period 1991/92 to 1995/96, a winter peak mean of 51,265 individual waterfowl was recorded with the assemblage additionally including nationally important populations of: redshank Tringa totanus (1,149 individuals, 1% of the GB population) and lapwing Vanellus vanellus (2,542 individuals, 0.2% of the GB population).

Area: 60.51 km2 (6051.39ha) Location: 57o 32. 781’ N 1o 95.445’ W OS Sheet 1:50,000 – 30 & 38

Classified on 30th March 1998, with marine extension proposed on 19th June 2014.

21/06/16 Scottish Natural Heritage

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