PREVIEW

The 2025 puffin count is underway on the Farne Islands as conservationists from the National Trust aim to tot them up among 200,000 seabirds.


This year The National Trust marks its 100th year of caring for the internationally important sanctuary for the 200,000 seabirds that return each summer to breed.


This year’s count is vitally important given the islands’ three seasons of closure between 2020 until 2024’s count due to Covid-19 and then bird flu.

The 28 islands are a safe haven for the birds thanks to its location 1.5 miles off the coast of Northumberland. They provide the ideal habitats for 23 species of seabirds, as well as being an important stop-off point for a host of migratory birds from long eared owls to blue throats and ring ouzels.

During the winter it is also home to a significant colony of grey seals who return each year to pup.

Seabirds that make the annual migration to breed include cliff-nesting birds such as razorbills, guillemots and kittiwakes, ground nesting birds such as terns (Arctic, Common and Roseate) as well as the endangered puffins[3] who build burrows underground to lay their eggs and once hatched, to raise their ‘pufflings’.


Sophia Jackson, Area Ranger on the Farne Islands for the National Trust explains: “It appears that the increases in bird species aligns with the islands gaining increased environmental protections, firstly through designation as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 1951 and as a Special Protected Area (SPA) in 1985.

“Significant milestones include numbers of breeding birds reaching 100,000 for the first time in 1987, with 200,000 individual seabirds returning recorded in 2005.

“Looking back on the records for the different populations it is very clear how important regular monitoring of the different seabird populations has been – despite different methodologies - for informing our conservation work on the islands, but also for keeping track of the impacts of climate change through warming seas and more frequent storms.”

Sophia continues: “Last year’s counts were particularly important as we had been unable to conduct full counts on the islands since 2019. It was a huge relief to discover that the puffin population was ‘stable’ with 50,000 pairs recorded, but other species were less fortunate with big losses for terns and shags mainly due to bird flu and winter storms.

“Both species have struggled in the last decade due to the weather and declines in fish stocks. Ultimately, they both need time to recover. We can help by keeping their nesting habitats as safe as possible for them to return to in the light of climate change and the increase of extreme weather events.”

To help monitor the puffins and to gain further insights into these ‘clowns of the sea’, the team is introducing a new way to track the birds using coloured rings – the second such project in England.

Tom Hendry, Area Ranger on the Farne Islands who has been part of the ranger team since 2016, explains how the coloured ringing should help.


“Despite puffins spending much of their time ‘rafting’ out at sea, ringing them will help us to understand more about the individuals as we’ll be able to follow them over several years, as well as how long they live and how far they travel to other colonies. Over the next few weeks, we’ll aim to ring 50 adult birds as part of our census and productivity monitoring.”

Looking towards the next century Sophia adds: “We are doing the best we can to ensure all our seabirds have a bright future. But climate change, especially its impact on the severity of winter storms and extreme weather events are the biggest threats facing both our seabirds and seal populations.”