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'Rarest seabirds' pictured migrating south

Tom BurgessNorth East and Cumbria
News imageDamian Money An adult and juvenile roseate tern are facing each other on a flat sand beach. The adult has a black head, a white body, pale grey wings and a streak of black in its tail. The smaller juvenile, on the right, has a mixture of striking black and white patterns on its pale grey wings and tail. It has a black head and feet and a white breast.Damian Money
Money always carries his camera in case an opportunity to capture rare bird life presents itself

A "lucky" birder was delighted to capture pictures of two of the "rarest seabirds" in the country as they migrated south.

Damian Money, who has been birding for 35 years in the Cleveland area, went to South Gare, in Redcar, early in the morning to avoid dog walkers and was rewarded by the sight of an adult and juvenile tern sharing a quiet moment on the beach.

A record 155 pairs of the rare seabirds nested on on Coquet Island, a mile off Amble in Northumberland, in the most recent breeding season, the highest number in more than 50 years.

"They gather every year at South Gare after the breeding season on their way south so I look forward to seeing them annually in late summer," said Money.

News imageDamian Money An adult roseate tern in mid-flight, with white wings outstretched. The wing tips are grey and its head is black.Damian Money
A bird flu outbreak on Coquet Island in 2022 caused a drop in the tern population, but numbers have since increased again

The British Ornithological Trust have said roseate terns are one of the rarest seabirds in the UK, with Coquet Island their only UK only breeding ground.

The terns arrive here in April, before migrating back to West Africa in September.

Coquet Island is also home to puffins, eiders, razorbills, fulmars, kittiwakes and gulls, as well as common, arctic and sandwich terns.

Protected under UK and international law, the island is managed by a small team of RSPB wardens and volunteers, but closed to the public.

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