Birdwatchers yesterday spotted the first longtail of the year, suggesting a cold and rainy winter might be nearing an end.Andrew Dobson, president of the Bermuda Audubon Society, noticed a longtail in the air near Church Bay yesterday morning.“Small numbers of longtails are usually seen in the early part of February, but the majority do not return until March or April,” he said.The longtail, or White-tailed Tropic bird, spends the winter on tropical water to the Island’s south, but every year as many as 2,000 pairs travel to Bermuda to breed, with each pair laying a single egg.However, due to cliff collapses and an increasing number of housing and commercial developments, a number of nesting sites on the Island have been destroyed.“The Audubon Society has initiated a successful programme of artificial nest ‘igloos’ for longtails,” Mr Dobson said. “Hundreds of these have been installed on appropriate sites around Bermuda.”In order to protect the nesting areas, the public are asked to help maintain regular nest sites by removing built-up trash and making sure there is a small amount of sand in the base of the nest.He also reminded dog owners to make sure their dogs are kept on a leash near nesting areas, like coastal parks and reserves.