The American Black Tern in Northumberland - 17th June 2026

Yesterday Mark had  booked us onto one of Billy Sheils boat trips for this afternoon and that was going to Inner Farne, the nearest of the Farne Islands that lie off Seahouses on the coast of Northumberland.

The sailing was not until 3pm so we had plenty of time to spare and decided to stop off on the way north at Long Nanny, a National Trust reserve wardened during the breeding season to prevent disturbance to the colonies of Arctic and Little Terns that breed on the sands and in the dunes. 

Most exciting for us was the fact a female American Black Tern has been coming to the colony for the last six years and being a very rare bird is a must see if at all possible. It had already been reported as being present in the Arctic Tern colony earlier today so we were optimistic about seeing it. 

This transatlantic version of 'our' Black Tern first arrived in the Arctic Tern colony in May 2020 when it was thought to be an ordinary Black Tern but on its return in 2021 subsequent detailed examination of its plumage ascertained it was a much rarer American BlackTern, only the eighth record ever for Britain. and incidentally the first time an  American Black Tern had been seen in breeding plumage in Britain, 

Truly a mega although not yet considered a separate species.

It has faithfully returned to the same Arctic Tern colony at Long Nanny every year since 2020 and in 2024 paired with a male Arctic Tern and laid two eggs thus proving it was a female, although sadly the eggs failed to hatch.

It did the same in 2025 but again the eggs proved infertile and possibly a similar outcome will be the result this year too as it again has a nest and an Arctic Tern for a mate. (It proved everyone wrong as the unlikely pair have hatched a chick)

One interesting point I speculated on was where the American Black Tern goes in the winter.Does it go all the way to the Antarctic with the Arctic Terns or does it only follow them a part of the way.I guess we will never know.

It is a two hour drive from Mark's home and on a sunny morning we headed north at shortly after 8.30am joining the A1 and passing the Angel of the North at Gateshead and then through the outskirts of Newcastle to emerge into  rural Northumberland. Turning off the A1 we followed a number of pleasant winding lanes to eventually arrive at Newton Links House car park. 

The car park looked familiar and it was then I realised that this was where I had come to twitch a Grey Headed Lapwing three years ago.

Leaving the car we passed through a wooden gate and followed an obvious track through the dunes that brought us out onto Beadnell Bay, an extensive and atmospheric area of sand, sea and sky with hardly a soul to be seen. 

Long Nanny, actually the name of a burn that runs out to the sea through the sand is a fifteen minute walk north along the beach. I truly rejoiced in being here and with the sun gentle on my arms and face and a warm wind blowing I willingly surrendered to this elemental vastness of sand, sea and sky.

After a longish walk, a signpost in the sand points left to a narrow gap rising up into the dunes and following this you come to gate that grants access via a notice board to another well marked track heading towards the warden's hut, visible on a rise in the near distance.

At the warden's hut we stood at a tiny viewing point and were able to overlook the  Arctic Tern colony, its excitable occupants only a few metres from us but unconcerned at our curiosity, totally immersed in their breeding activities and accompanied by the usual harsh grating  calls that all terns seem to revel in.

It was a scene of constant activity and noise with the terns arriving and departing, hovering above mates on their nest, sometimes bringing token offerings of sandeeels to strengthen the bond with their partners.

But what of the American Black Tern?

As we walked towards the warden's hut, in jest I said to Mark 

It will just be our luck if it has flown out to sea

And gallingly so it proved.The wardens telling us it had only just flown off and its mate had taken over at the nest.

This did not augur well as the tern could be gone for a long time and we had only an hour before we had to head for Seahouse and our boat to the Farne Islands.

Resignedly I stood and eyed the tern spectacle before me. While Mark chatted to the wardens and a couple of other visitors. I kept scanning the sky beyond the dunes hoping to see the American Black Tern reappear and eventually it did. Flying in directly from the beach, looking smaller and distinctly black compare to its white companions

I shouted to the others in excitement and pointed

It's back! The Black Tern! It's here! 

Note the inscribed green ring on the bird's leg. It was fitted by NT rangers in 2024 to
try and follow the bird's movements when it leaves the breeding colony

The tern came ever closer, passing our viewpoint no more than five metes away, wheeling around and above the colony then out over the dunes and then back again even closer. Up and around it swept, time and time again, would it ever settle?

It stalled to hover over its mate on the nest but then flew on. Its mate was reluctant to move but eventually conceded and left.The black tern descended into the marram grass and began re-arranging the nest material and gathering more to add to the nest.

I tried my utmost to focus my camera on its erratic course while it was flying around, sometimes I was successful but mostly not. Bouyant, fast and fluid in flight. almost hirundine like. it was never in one place for more than a second.

Now it was on the ground it was unlikely to fly again but we had been very lucky to see it in flight and for such an extended period.

We left the wardens and their hut and wandered back through the dunes and across the sand.

A very pleasant prequel to our visit to Inner Farne later today.