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A Record 116 Little Tern Pairs Attempted to Breed at Beacon Lagoons in 2026

Two wild little terns during courtship, one carrying a fish
Conservation: Management, Population & status

A record minimum of 116 pairs of little terns (Sternula albifrons) attempted to breed at Beacon Lagoons in East Yorkshire, England during the 2026 season, according to Spurn Bird Observatory Trust. By the end of the project’s 24–30 July update, chicks had hatched from 102 nests and 121 fledged young had been recorded around the colony. The project later noted that some fledglings gathering at Beacon Lagoons may have arrived from other colonies, so the 121 count should not be read as an exact total produced by Beacon nests.

Before the birds settled, the project team prepared nesting habitat and installed an electric predator-exclusion fence. As breeding activity increased, wardens and volunteers expanded monitoring, and 24-hour protection began in mid-June. The team also monitored predators and worked with beach users to limit disturbance around the fenced colony.

The first nest was found on 26 May and the first chicks hatched on 19 June. By the turn of June and July, the project estimated that at least 116 pairs had made breeding attempts, the highest number recorded at the site. Hatching continued through July: chicks had emerged from 100 nests by 18–23 July, rising to 102 when the final active nest hatched the following week.

Beacon Lagoons is Yorkshire’s only breeding colony of little terns. The project continued round-the-clock wardening after the last nest hatched because unfledged chicks remained at the site and foxes and other predators were still regularly recorded around the colony.

Sources and image credit

  1. Spurn Bird Observatory Trust. (2026, July 30). 2026 Season Diary: Beacon Lagoons Little Tern Conservation Project.Primary project diary. The 26 June–2 July update estimated a record minimum of 116 breeding pairs. The 24–30 July update reported that the final nest had hatched, bringing the season total to 102 successfully hatched nests. The project diary also documents habitat management, an electric predator-exclusion fence and 24-hour wardening. The dated update period ends 30 July, which is used as the article date.

Image: Mdshahedulislamsadik — wild Little Terns during courtship, with the male carrying a fish to offer to the female, 21 April 2021. Source: Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0. Representative breeding-season image; not birds from Beacon Lagoons. · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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