The USFWS put string fencing up on the small nesting spit on Cockenoe fairly recently. I was told that there was an estimated 100 pairs of Common Terns nesting and no Least Terns present on the day in which the string fencing went up. Least Terns had been there earlier, but got washed out. Any attempt by Least Terns to return to Cockenoe will be made more difficult because the Commons will keep the Least Terns restricted to the lowest point on the spit. There will be no safety margin at all. There are a half dozen pair of Least Terns which seem to be nesting at Long Beach in Stratford, since they dive bombed us as we walked by while doing our Piping Plover survey yesterday. However, it was a weak defense and only a few birds went through it, so I am not totally sure if there are nests there. Maybe they are still prospecting. Charlie Barnard Jr Stratford