Puffin chick at Dancing Ledge – Credit: Martin Shaw via SWNS
Conservationists were holding their breaths this Spring as the last remaining colony of puffins was in danger of being lost altogether, but relief turned to joy as, not only did the adult puffins return, a baby was born.
For the first time in 30 years, a newborn bird—called a PUFFLING—was spotted emerging from its cliffside nest along the Dancing Ledge in Dorset.
The last puffin colony on mainland England’s southern coast shrank to just six birds in recent years—so the National Trust renewed its quest to understand why the birds had been failing to produce chicks.
After spending the last 15 weeks installing cameras and monitoring the cliffs, volunteers were left “thrilled” by the sight of adult puffins delivering fish to the nests hidden deep within the crevice.
“Seeing the puffling was a great thrill,” said Dr. Richard Caldow, who is leading the project. “It’s the first puffling that’s been recorded in Purbeck for a long time.”
Only three breeding pairs remain today, compared to more than 40 active pairs in the 1950s.
“One puffling alone won’t save this colony, but one is a whole lot better news than none.”
Dr. Richard said the volunteer team from the Purbeck Natural History Forum spent around 150 hours monitoring the ledges.
Checking on Puffin habitat at Dancing Ledge cliffs – National Trust – Credit: Martin Shaw / SWNS
They observed the first fish being taken into the ledge on May 31, with the last fish delivery recorded on July 5, which puts the age of the puffling to be 38-40 days old.
Dr. Richard, who holds a PhD in seabird ecology and has nearly 40 years’ experience researching and conserving coastal bird populations, said the puffling is expected to leave the ledge soon—and its parents—under the cover of darkness, and spend the next several years alone at sea.
If it survives, it may return to Purbeck at two years of age, although puffins do not usually breed until they’re around four years old.
The rare birth comes after the National Trust installed motion-sensor trail cameras in March to peer into the puffins’ deep crevice—with the aim of establishing whether predators, like rats, may be the reason new chicks have not appeared in recent years.
Puffin with camera installed at Dancing Ledge cliffs – via SWNS
The cameras, powered by solar panels, do not provide live feeds, so the research team will have to wait until the breeding season ends to retrieve the cameras and review the thousands of images captured.
“Understanding what is happening inside the nesting crevice is the missing piece of the puzzle,” said an excited Ben Cooke, a project officer for the National Trust in Purbeck.
“If we can identify the reasons why chicks and eggs are being lost, we can begin to explore what conservation measures might help.”
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“Puffins are such an iconic bird, we want to do everything in our power to help them survive in Purbeck.”
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