Bird eggs stolen at sanctuary

There are fears the birds will not come back to the islands

About 1,500 eggs have been stolen from the Copeland Islands bird sanctuary, off the County Down coast.

It is the biggest theft of its kind in Northern Ireland and has shocked conservationists throughout the United Kingdom.

The theft has devastated the migrating population of terns and black-headed gulls.

Seeing the eggs is difficult in daylight, according to experts who say it would have taken local knowledge to steal the eggs at night.

Neville McKee from the Copeland bird observatory said bird enthusiasts, who have developed the islands as a successful destination for migrating birds, saw their work destroyed in a single night.

He said: "Nothing has ever happened before to this colony. It has been going for 17 years. It was a great success story, now over three quarters of the eggs have been taken.

Some broken shells have been discarded

"Completely wiping out hundreds of nests is quite staggering. I really don't know what is going to happen next. Those birds are very likely going to be put off for next year.

"They do seem distressed. It knocks them off, their hormones are presumably upset, it hasn't gone through the proper cycle. They feel something is really wrong.

"They'll be dissatisfied with this island from this stage onwards."

It is thought that the eggs have been stolen for restaurants in the south of England.

The thieves were lucky not to be caught as the islands are inhabited during the summer.

Some of the birds that remain have laid a single egg but even if it hatches it is likely the young will be abandoned by the parents who will soon migrate south.