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For the first time, footage has been captured showing a puffling—a baby puffin—hatched on the Copeland Islands located off the coast of County Down. These seabirds, which are usually linked with Rathlin Island near County Antrim, were not originally found on the uninhabited Lighthouse Island. It wasn’t until around 2013 that efforts were made to establish a puffin population there through an introduction program.
Currently, about 30 pairs of puffins are breeding successfully on Lighthouse Island, marking the scheme as a notable success. Every April, the birds return to the island, and just last month, trail cameras placed near their ground burrows recorded a young puffling emerging and an adult puffin bringing fish to feed its chick. To encourage puffins to settle on the island, conservationists employed creative methods such as placing artificial decoy puffins and setting up solar-powered speakers that played puffin calls.
Adam Ringland, who works with the Copeland Island Bird Observatory based on Lighthouse Island, explained that the puffins are flourishing thanks to the island’s environment. He noted, “They like the nice grassy slopes and the burrows have already been dug out for them by rabbits and Manx shearwaters, which is our star bird on the island.” Because Lighthouse Island is uninhabited except for volunteers and occasional visitors to the bird observatory, the puffins have ample space to breed and grow without disturbance.
Access to Lighthouse Island is tightly controlled and only permitted via approved charter boats, as the island is protected by the bird observatory. Ringland emphasized the importance of raising awareness about this conservation success, especially considering declines in certain seabird populations. He added, “They (puffins) are such important regulators of the eco-system, from keeping fish stocks under control to fertilising the land and of course people just love puffins. They get such a buzz out of seeing these birds – it’s such an important thing for our mental health, it connects us to nature, and helps us understand we need to protect nature as a whole.
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
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