They are one of our most-loved birds.
But with climate change driving puffin populations to a catastrophic low, they are counting on us to count them.
Keeping an annual tally allows conservationists to quickly adapt their work to protect these precious birds, which are on the red-list, meaning the highest concern.
But the pandemic meant full surveys were impossible, so this year’s survey off the coast of Northumberland is vital to their survival.
But counting them is no easy task – volunteers must stick their arms down burrows hoping to find eggs, pufflings, poo or an angry peck.
“They will quite often give you a wee nip,” said Harriet Reid, National Trust ranger for the Farne Islands. “I can show you a couple of scars. It does hurt. But I’m used to it.”
Puffins are threatened with extinction as extreme weather affects their food supplies and predators target them.
These “parrots of the sea” return to our coast to breed in spring and stay until the pufflings fledge around August.
In 2018, 42,474 breeding pairs of Atlantic puffins were counted on the Farne Islands. In 2019 it was 42,378. Last year, with a reduced survey, there were 36,211.
Harriet explained: “The regularity of the count means we can react more quickly to any drastic change in numbers, and look at whether there is anything we can do differently in terms of our conservation work which could help numbers recover.
“We think erosion from the extreme wind, rain and the island population of rabbits could be affecting the birds, particularly on Inner Farne where over the past year we have seen a large increase in the number of bare patches of soil.Extreme weather events can also impact numbers.
"We may for instance find winter storms have caused increased mortality, meaning fewer birds return to breed on the islands.”
Predators, like large gulls, can also have an impact on numbers.
Data is verified each year by scientists at Newcastle University.
Dr Richard Bevan, the university’s lecturer in zoology, added: “By analysing these trends, we are able to see how the puffin population on the Farne Islands are being affected by climate change or local changes in sandeel availability.”
We can only hope that Harriet and her team can help to reverse these trends.
