SKOMER PUFFINS

A puffin sits in the entrance of its burrow on Skomer Island off the south-west coast of Pembrokeshire, one of Britain’s most important puffin colonies. There are an estimated 6,000 breeding pairs on the island and, come the end of July, the chicks – now six-weeks old and 70% of the adult’s weight – are ready to fledge.

Reducing the chance of attack from predatory gulls, the young puffins leave their burrows under the cover of darkness. Once at sea, they are on their own and will remain there for up to two years before returning to the nesting colony to look for a mate.