Trust looks for answers as puffin numbers fall

Numbers of puffins on north- east England’s Farne Islands may be down 12 per cent in the past five years, the National Trust has warned, as it takes its latest census of the seabirds.

Initial numbers from the five-yearly count on the islands off the Northumberland coast, which are managed by the Trust, suggest the population is down 42 per cent on one of the islands.

The figures could spell an alarming decline for the birds, known for their colourful beaks. Nearly 40,000 breeding pairs were recorded at the last count in 2013. The National Trust, which has been looking after the islands for 93 years, said it would be stepping up monitoring of the seabirds to understand what is going on.

Puffins also returned four weeks later than normal to breeding grounds on the islands.