Hopes that puffins ‘may extend their breeding grounds’

PUFFINS HAVE returned to the Farne Islands for the breeding season and may expand their nesting sites to new areas in the absence of visitors, the National Trust has revealed.

The islands off the coast of Northumberland are closed to the public due to the coronavirus pandemic, but rangers are still monitoring the threatened seabirds who nest there.

The puffins are back in strong numbers, the National Trust said, and may use the peace and quiet to create their burrows in new areas, including sites which are usually popular picnic spots for visitors on the Inner Farnes.

The pandemic also means the trust will have to replace its annual count of puffin numbers with monitoring, but the charity said looking after the birds was still a priority.

A National Trust ranger on the Farne Islands, Harriet Reid, said it was “highly unlikely” the team would be able to conduct the typical detailed survey of the seabirds because they do not have a full ranger team there.

She said: “So instead we’ll be keeping records of any significant changes we’re noticing within the colony through our observations, as well as monitoring footage from remote cameras we’ve set up at key points across the islands.”

She added: “Puffins build their nests in burrows and in the absence of visitors we may see them expanding their usual nesting grounds to new parts of the islands.

“Areas such as the picnic spots on Inner Farne, which are usually popular with our visitors, could possibly see new guests this year.”

Last year, the first annual census of puffins recorded 43,000 pairs of birds.

Previously the counts had been conducted every five years, but the National Trust has stepped up monitoring in the face of the declining number of puffins, which are being affected by climate change.