CONSERVATIONISTS are making a dummy run at offering a home to a species of rare sea birds.
A man-made decoy colony of little terns has been installed on an island of slag deposit off South Gare, near Redcar, east Cleveland, in a bid to attract the real birds.
Two years of unwelcome attentions from predators and egg collectors at an established colony at Crimdon Dene, several miles north of Hartlepool, have caused conserv-ationists to launch a bid to lure the tiny birds to a safer nesting site.
They have put a number of dummy birds on the island, which is cut off at high tide while being monitored by Tees and Hartlepool Port Authority cameras and wardens.
"This year we are making an effort to try to attract them here because we think it is a particularly good site for them,'' said Geoff Barber, conservation officer with the Industry Nature Conservation Association, which is one of the organisations involved in protecting the birds.
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