A quarter of Arctic tern chicks have been wiped out in a suspected bird flu outbreak at Long Nanny on the Northumberland Coast.
The coastal site near Beadnell is home to Britain's largest mainland breeding colony of Arctic terns with 1,600 breeding pairs this year, while it is also a nationally significant site for Britain's second rarest breeding seabird, the little tern. Rangers at the site, which is typically a safe breeding ground for both tern species, have been devastated by the outbreak during the peak of the breeding season which has seen 600 dead Arctic tern chicks recovered from across the site.
The suspected outbreak comes 12 months after bird flu caused more than 6,000 seabird deaths on the Farne Islands, though lower numbers have been seen this year with 500 carcasses recovered to date. However, in recent days, the number of dead birds has increased, with kittiwakes, black-headed gulls and guillemots the worst affected.
