Booming population of migrating birds on Northumberland coast

Published: 07:00 Friday 08 September 2017

A tiny bird is booming in population thanks to conservation efforts on a stretch of the north Northumberland coast recently bought by the National Trust. More than 500 Arctic terns and five internationally-threatened little terns have fledged thanks to rangers camping out on 24-hour watch against predators, such as stoats and foxes. In the previous year, just two Arctic terns and five little terns, vulnerable to high tides and marine pollution, managed to take flight. The National Trust has been carrying out the extensive conservation efforts for decades to keep the birds going on the north Northumberland coast, but this summer, the charity acquired 200 acres of land at Tughall Mill for £1.5million to ensure its vital conservation work can continue. Only around 1,800 breeding pairs of Arctic terns return to the Long Nanny from Antarctica each year, between May and July. The Arctic tern hit headlines last year after one from the Farne Islands clocked up 59,650 miles in one migration, more than twice the circumference of the planet.

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