Rare seabirds numbers fall at nature reserve

A 30% decline in the number of breeding Arctic terns at a Northumberland nature reserve this summer has been described as a blow.

- DANIEL HALL

The downturn comes after the species was put on the red list of UK Birds of Conservation Concerns less than a year ago.

During the summer months Long Nanny, near Beadnell, is a haven for some of the UK's rarest seabirds. As well as the Arctic tern, known for its extraordinary migration between the Arctic and the Antarctic, little terns and ringed plover nest here, and a single American black tern has now returned for six consecutive years.

A report from the National Trust, which manages the site, indicates that the number of occupied Arctic tern nests has dropped by from 1,037 in 2024 to 724 this year - a drop of 313. Numbers have continually dropped since the species' peak in 2018, when 2,800 nests were recorded.