Changes of the ridge at Cemlyn

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Cemlyn reserve is managed by the North Wales Wildlife Trust for the breeding terns which come there from various part of Africa in numbers every year. The reserve is favoured by breeding terns due to a large shingle ridge which locks away a brackish water lagoon behind and low-lying islands. The terns have bred over the years on this island, but Ben remembers terns and other breeding shorebirds breeding on the ridge itself. The ridge has changed in both shape and position over the years he’s been working and visiting the reserve, probably due to the changing origins and intensity of winter storms. It is now closer to the breeding island and steeper in shape making the breeding habits of all these birds that use the area slightly more problematic.