Suspected bird flu has killed more than 600 Arctic tern chicks at Britain’s largest mainland breeding colony. National Trust rangers wearing hazmat suits recovered the dead birds at the Long Nanny wildlife sanctuary at Beadnell Bay in Northumberland.
Long Nanny is home to Britain’s largest mainland colony of Arctic terns with 1,600 breeding pairs and is a nationally significant site for little terns. The suspected outbreak comes 12 months after bird flu wiped out more than 6,000 seabirds on the Farne Islands just six miles up the coast near Bamburgh.
So far this year rangers have seen lower numbers of dead birds on the Farne Islands, with 500 carcasses recovered to date. In recent days the number of dead birds has increased, with a mix of species picked up including kittiwakes, black headed gulls and guillemots being the most affected.
