Tern turnaround: colonies in England show signs of recovery after decline

National Trust says latest figures encouraging – with numbers of birds on the rise – but work still to be done

England’s most important tern colonies are showing signs of recovery after being hit by years of bird flu, flooding and increasingly unpredictable weather, new figures from the National Trust reveal.

The trust reported record numbers of little terns at Long Nanny in Northumberland, one of the UK’s most important breeding sites for what is the country’s second-rarest breeding seabird.