Rare birds 'recovering' after breeding season

Colonies of rare birds are showing signs of recovery after years of bird flu, flooding, and unpredictable weather, the National Trust has said.

Little terns at Long Nanny, on the Northumberland coast, have had a record-breaking breeding season, while more than 1,100 pairs of Sandwich terns returned to breed at Blakeney Point in Norfolk after a two-year absence.

But the charity warned there was "no room for complacency", as species such as Arctic terns continued to face threats and were recently added to the UK's Red List of Birds of Conservation Concern.

Head of nature conservation Ben McMarthy said: "These results are particularly encouraging given the challenges seabirds have faced."

At Long Nanny, the Arctic tern colony was devastated by avian flu in 2023, and recent seasons have seen nests lost to high spring tides and extreme weather, with numbers down almost a third last year on the previous breeding season, the trust said.

This year, however, there were a minimum of 730 active Arctic tern nests, with 1,346 eggs - with numbers slightly up on last year, according to rangers.

Long Nanny also had an "exceptional season" for little terns, the UK's second-rarest breeding seabird, which has experienced significant long-term declines across the country.

At least 126 pairs nested at the site, more than double the previous record of 57 pairs in 1994, while at least 82 chicks are known to have fledged - with the final total potentially more than 100.

At Blakeney Point, part of Blakeney National Nature Reserve in Norfolk, 1,164 pairs of Sandwich terns were recorded, after two seasons when the species had failed to nest there.

There were also increases in common and Arctic terns, and rising numbers of black-headed gulls, whose presence can help provide extra protection for ground-nesting seabird colonies which are vulnerable to predators.

The National Trust said protection measures put in were making a "real difference", including fences to keep out predators such as foxes, creation of "refuge areas" for breeding birds, and tighter restrictions on dogs during the nesting season.

But breeding figures from the Farne Islands, off the Northumberland coast, show Arctic tern numbers fell by 27% from 519 breeding pairs last year to 377 this year, and no common terns nested on the islands, compared with five pairs last year.

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