A partnership that is helping to safeguard endangered kittiwakes nesting in Lowestoft is set to hold a special event next month.
People will be able to find out more about the Lowestoft Kittiwake Partnership, to learn more about the "fantastic" kittiwakes colony and visit some of their nesting sites around the town on guided walks.
It comes two years after kittiwakes had become entangled in controversial netting placed around businesses in the town.
With Lowestoft's kittiwake colony being one of the few urban colonies in the UK, it led to the launch of a new collaborative cross-sector partnership early last year.
The Lowestoft Kittiwake Partnership (LKP) - which consists of Lowestoft Vision, East Suffolk Council, Lowestoft Town Council, Associated British Ports, RSPB, Suffolk Wildlife Trust, BT, Waveney MP Peter Aldous, Groundwork East, community members and independent ornithologists - was formed to raise awareness and find sustainable solutions that enable kittiwakes to nest safely while minimising conflict between the birds and local businesses.
After receiving a funding boost from Lowestoft Town Council, the salary of a dedicated officer to help the town's businesses see the seabird as an "asset not a pest" was part-funded in March last year.
This was matched by East Suffolk Council later in the year.
And just before the first kittiwakes arrived in Lowestoft in March this year, having returned from a winter spent at sea in the North Atlantic, three new artificial nesting structures (ANS) - known as 'kittiwake hotels' - opened for business.
They were unveiled in the Port of Lowestoft after offshore wind farm developer Vattenfall pledged £50,000 a year for up to five years to help support the Lowestoft Kittiwake Partnership.
Rupert Masefield, planning and advocacy manager at Suffolk Wildlife Trust, said: "By May, kittiwakes have returned to their established nesting sites in Lowestoft, which include Claremont Pier, Our Lady Star of the Sea Roman Catholic Church, and the Marina Theatre.
"One of the reasons for the formation of the Lowestoft Kittiwake Partnership was the increasing incidence of poorly installed and maintained netting on buildings to prevent kittiwakes nesting, posing a threat to the birds, which can become entangled in the netting.
"The partnership seeks to engage with businesses and building-owners to ensure that deterrents are appropriately used and safely installed to prevent harm to the birds, and at the same time is encouraging the installation of artificial nesting ledges in locations where nesting kittiwakes will not cause problems by making a mess of buildings that can be expensive to clean.
"Sadly, the use of netting and spikes to prevent kittiwakes from nesting has increased again this year.
"While the new ‘kittiwake hotels’, and a planned offshore nesting structure will hopefully provide suitable nesting sites for kittiwakes in the future, kittiwakes are highly site faithful and birds that have been successfully nesting on buildings in the town for years are unlikely to relocate to these structures, which are designed to attract young birds reaching breeding age for the first time."
The partnership hopes to "implement a more strategic approach to managing the issues associated with kittiwakes nesting in the town that enables the birds to thrive alongside people and business".
To highlight this, a special kittiwake event will be held at the Marina Theatre, on Saturday, June 3, from 10am to 2pm, as community charity Groundwork East organises it on behalf of the partnership.
People will be able to come and find out more about "these fantastic birds," while learning about their history in Lowestoft and enjoy guided walks to some of their nesting sites around the town.
The event will include activities for kids and information and advice on helping the birds. There will be guided walks, details available online at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/guided-walk-lowestofts-kittiwakes-tickets-636502956477
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