England's most important tern colonies are showing signs of recovery after years of bird flu, flooding, and increasingly unpredictable weather, according to new figures from the National Trust.
The trust reported record numbers of little terns at Long Nanny in Northumberland, one of the UK's most important breeding sites for the country's second-rarest breeding seabird.
Record breeding season at Long Nanny
At Long Nanny, at least 126 pairs of little terns nested, doubling the previous site record. Rangers said at least 82 chicks are known to have fledged, with the final total potentially exceeding 100 birds.
Little terns are a particularly sensitive and vulnerable species that migrate from west Africa to breed, making nests, known as scrapes, on open sandy beaches. The species had experienced "significant long-term declines nationally, making this year's record breeding season especially significant," the trust said.
Arctic and sandwich tern numbers
Numbers are also slightly up for arctic terns, which annually breed in places such as Northumberland before making the journey south to Antarctica. The arctic tern colony at Long Nanny consisted of at least 730 breeding pairs this year, with nests containing 1,346 eggs.
In Norfolk, more than 1,100 pairs of sandwich terns returned to breed at Blakeney Point after a two-year absence.
Cautious optimism amid challenges
Ben McCarthy, the trust's head of nature conservation, stressed there was no room for complacency, but said the figures showed "what can be achieved when internationally important breeding sites are carefully protected and managed."
He added: "These results are particularly encouraging given the challenges seabirds have faced in recent years – from avian flu and extreme weather to wider pressures on the marine environment."
In 2023, Long Nanny's arctic tern colony was devastated by avian flu, when rangers found more than 600 dead chicks. In recent seasons, nests have been lost to high spring tides and extreme weather, the trust said.
Rangers report exceptional season
James Porteus, the trust's lead ranger for the Northumberland coast, said it was "incredibly encouraging" to see little terns doing so well, calling it an "exceptional season" after several years "dominated by bird flu outbreaks, flooded nests and concerns about declining numbers."
He added: "To more than double the previous site record for breeding pairs is a remarkable achievement and a testament to the dedication of staff, volunteers and partner organisations who help protect the colony each year."
Rangers in Northumberland also reported the return, for the seventh consecutive breeding season, of a black tern they have called Nigella. Black terns are not normally found breeding in the UK.
The trust stressed that the picture for breeding seabirds was "not universally positive," pointing to a 27% fall in arctic tern numbers on the Farne Islands, Northumberland. Also, there were no common terns there this year compared with five last year, while sandwich tern numbers remained unchanged at two breeding pairs.
