PREVIEW

Blown off course puffins loving life after release back into the wild. Puffins battered by the winter’s stormy weather are making their way back into the wild after some tender love and care. The wayward birds were treated at a specialist RSPCA wildlife centre after they washed up on West Country beaches in January and February. The unusual guests were welcomed by the team at RSPCA West Hatch Wildlife Centre, near Taunton, where they spent time putting on weight ready to return to the sea. During their time at the centre the puffins were treated to a diet of fish and washed before going into seabird pool at the specialist RSPCA centre. Once recovered, they were taken to a private beach in North Devon where they finally returned to the wild. They were placed on the calm waves where they took a minute to get their bearings and regroup, before swimming off into the distance. Puffins are pelagic, meaning they spend the majority of their life at sea. This is where food sources are more abundant and it avoids the need to defend nesting sites. The birds spend eight months of the year, September to March, floating on the Atlantic Ocean without touching land until breeding season begins in spring.