England’s tern colonies record encouraging recovery after difficult seasons

Important tern colonies in England are showing signs of recovery after years affected by bird flu, flooding and increasingly unpredictable weather, according to new figures from the National Trust. At Long Nanny in Northumberland, at least 126 pairs of little terns nested this year, doubling the previous site record. Rangers recorded at least 82 fledged chicks, with the final total potentially exceeding 100.

The little tern is one of Britain’s rarest breeding seabirds. It migrates from west Africa and nests in open sandy beaches, making it particularly vulnerable to disruption during the breeding season. The Arctic tern colony at Long Nanny also appeared to be stabilising.

At least 730 breeding pairs produced nests containing 1,346 eggs, a slight increase after several difficult seasons. In 2023, avian flu killed more than 600 Arctic tern chicks at the site, while other seasons brought losses from high spring tides and extreme weather. In Norfolk, more than 1,100 pairs of sandwich terns returned to breed at Blakeney Point after a two-year absence.

Rangers in Northumberland also reported the return of a black tern known as Nigella for a seventh consecutive breeding season. Black terns do not normally breed in the UK. The National Trust cautioned that the recovery was not uniform.

Arctic tern numbers on the Farne Islands fell by 27%, no common terns bred there compared with five pairs last year, and sandwich tern numbers remained at two breeding pairs. Ben McCarthy, the trust’s head of nature conservation, said the results showed what careful protection and management could achieve, while stressing that seabirds continued to face serious pressures.