Now we can get back out on the boat as lockdown eases in the Bailiwick of Guernsey we have been trying to do some catch up on the seabird monitoring we would usually carry out in spring. When we were passing the other auks (razorbills and guillemots) on the south coast we saw this razorbill, [...]
Since the end of May puffin activity on the cameras has been increasing, which fits in with the timing we noticed the birds arriving on land and eggs being laid. Finally, in the first week of June we managed to catch some footage of the puffins bringing back fish to the burrows. Each chick will [...]
The first week of May saw a marked increase in puffin presence on land on the cameras, likely following egg laying recently. Like many of us, the puffins indulged in some gardening over the recent long bank holiday weekend, removing plant matter and earth from the burrow entrances and giving the surrounding area a bit [...]
The birds return to land, but it doesn't all go smoothly The puffins returned to land this year on Thursday 2nd April – amid much drama as a buzzard was seen eating one of the puffins on colony cam! A great black-backed gull managed to scavenge some of the remains, again all seen on [...]
First sightings The puffins were first spotted back on Burhou by the Alderney Wildlife Trust on Wednesday 18th March as the team of ecologists went to deploy Puffin Cam. There were 97 rafting, or sitting on the water, in the bay off Burhou designated as a Puffin Friendly Zone. Many of the puffins were also [...]
The puffins depart for 2019 after a good season here on Alderney. They will now be heading off into the Atlantic for the winter. Each puffin has its own specific journey, roughly followed each year and based on where it found fish on its first winter. Some travel great distances to the south of Iceland [...]
Watch the first video and see if you can spot the odd bird out from teh raft of puffins sitting on the sea just off Burhou. Scroll down to find out is you were right and see what the imposter is. Look closely at the shape of the birds! [...]
You will probably have noticed a big increase in activity from the puffins on the cameras from the last weeks of May onwards. This is because their chicks have hatched! After incubating their eggs for about 6 weeks the parents will finally have a little beak to feed. Puffins only ever have one puffling [...]
Activity increases as more birds arrive and parents take turns incubating eggs Activity on puffin cameras really picked up in the last week, with lots of puffins appearing on land, walking between the burrows and clumsily taking off to go out to sea and fish. You should hopefully have got a much clearer view of the [...]
The Burhou puffins lay their eggs By now some of the puffins will have laid eggs down in their burrows on Burhou. Both parents take turns incubating the egg for around 6 weeks – so there pufflings won’t be hatching until late May. On the cameras you may see the parents coming back and forth [...]
