August 6, 2025 • 20 mins
On 10th August 1925 the Farne Islands came into the care of the National Trust. A hundred years on and this wildlife haven off the coast of Northumberland is home to a breeding colony of 23 different species of seabirds.
But perhaps its most colourful characters, in looks as well as behaviour, are the 15,000 pairs of puffins that return to the Farne Islands to breed in the spring and summer months each year.
Join Rosie and Rangers Dan Iceton and Tom Hendry on a unique quest to uncover the secret lives of the Farne Islands' feisty puffin population.
[Ad] Wild Tales is sponsored by Cotswold Outdoor, your outside retailer and epic guides to adventure. Quick breathers, calming walks or heart-pounding hikes. We feel better when we get out more. Find quality kit and 50 years of outdoor wisdom. Plus, supporters save 15% in-store and online. Feel in your element, in the elements, at Cotswold Outdoor. https://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/
Production:
Hosts: Rosie Holdsworth and Dan Iceton
Producer: Katy Kelly
Sound Editor: Jesus Gomez
Contributor: Tom Hendry
Discover More: Find out more about The Farne Islands:
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/north-east/farne-islands/our-work-on-the-farne-islands
Follow us @wildtales Instagram account If you’d like to get in touch with feedback or a story idea you can contact us at podcasts@nationaltrust.org.uk
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
TOM HENDRY (00:34):
Everybody thinks that they're these very cute,
gentle birds, which, you know,they are cute, but they really
are feisty. They've got strongwings, so they'll wriggle a lot.
They dig the burrows themselveswith the sharp claws on their
feet.
They will kind of claw you,which is very painful. They'll
bite you, which is obviouslypainful as well. You usually end
(00:55):
up with the odd scar or cut ifyou're trying to handle them,
which is, you know, as it shouldbe, I suppose.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (01:04):
In the summer months, a remote rocky island in
the North Sea becomes a wildlifespectacle when it's taken over
by bustling colonies ofseabirds. One in particular with
a load of colour and charisma.
I'm Rosie Holdsworth and forthis episode,
Northumberland-based ranger DanIceton joins a Farne Islands
ranger who's going to extremelengths to care for these
(01:27):
unmistakable seabirds.
Welcome to Wild Tales and theClowns of the Sea. The colourful
lives of the Farne Islands'Puffins.
(01:58):
The Farne Islands are a wildlifehaven one and a half miles off
the coast of Northumberland.Made up of 28 islands forming
the inner and outer farnes. Onthe 10th of August 1925, the
Farne Islands came into the careof the National Trust, so we're
celebrating the 100thanniversary.
The islands are a nationalnature reserve and home to a
(02:21):
breeding colony of 23 differentspecies of seabirds, including
eider duck, gillimot, razorbill,kittiwake, arctic tern and
puffin, as well as being animportant stop-off point for a
host of migratory birds, fromlong-eared owls to blue-throats
and ring ouzles. During thewinter, it's also home to a
colony of grey seals who returneach year to pup.
(02:48):
Dan Iceton used to be a rangeron the Farne Islands, so it's a
place close to his heart. He'scatching up with ranger Tom
Hendry to find out about thework he's been doing with the
Farnes' seabirds, andparticularly the puffins.
DAN ICETON (03:01):
Hello Tom, how are you doing? You alright?
TOM HENDRY (03:03):
Hello Dan, how are you? Good to see you again.
DAN ICETON (03:04):
We're about to jump on a boat in order to get to the
farms, and that is your commuteto work, isn't it?
TOM HENDRY (03:09):
It is indeed. Seems so normal really for us, but
each day is a bit different. Saytoday there'll be a little bit
of chop on the sea. If the windsare kind of northerly or
easterly, we could have somereally big swell. It can be hard
to land the boats.
DAN ICETON (03:21):
And then you were talking about how the boats
might not be able to land. Doesthat mean that you end up stuck
out there? Can you be stuck forquite a while?
TOM HENDRY (03:28):
I've been stuck in the past before. I think my
record's about 10 days I've beenout there before.
DAN ICETON (03:33):
The boat's just arrived, so should we jump on?
TOM HENDRY (03:35):
Indeed, let's jump on. There we go.
DAN ICETON (03:46):
So we've just left Seahouses Harbour in the boat
into the North Sea, and it'sparticularly choppy today. So
what sort of wildlife would youexpect to see on this commute?
TOM HENDRY (03:57):
Well a mixture really. We'll see some of our
birds going back and forth, youknow, kind of gathering food to
kind of to feed their young. Soit could be guillimots, could be
shags, kittiwakes. A bit closerto the island, that's when we'll
start to see the puffins. Ifyou're very lucky, we do see
dolphins every few days sortpassing through.
The odd seal kind of bobbing itshead up as well. We do have a
(04:18):
big population of seals aroundthe farness. This time of year,
not so many. In recent weekswe've had a pod of orca that
have been visiting as well. Aye.It's the first time around the
islands themselves for around 30years or something.
DAN ICETON (04:31):
So a really, really big deal seeing them.
TOM HENDRY (04:33):
A deal seeing them again, yes.
DAN ICETON (04:36):
Yeah, so how was it seeing the orca? I mean, like,
what was that like?
TOM HENDRY (04:39):
Oh, I mean, it was really exciting. I mean, I've
never seen any orca before, so Iwas just thrilled to see them.
I've been to the islands since2016 and you hear all the old
stories from the 80s and beforeabout orca you used to be orca
around. So you always just thinkoh yeah it'll never happen and
then you see those massive finsyou know, finally, everyone
(05:01):
getting sighted. Yeah, somethingelse really. Amazing.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (05:09):
Hoping to be one of the lucky few to spot an
orca close to the Farne Islands,Dan and Tom scan the horizon for
a glimpse of an enormous fin.
It's not to be on this trip. Buttheir attention soon shifts as
they get closer to the cliffs ofInner Farne.
(05:29):
There are a lot of seabirdsflying around. And their cry is
growing louder. And the air isbecoming more pungent.
DAN ICETON (05:41):
So the boat's coming in close a little cliff, we're
gonna have a quick look atwhat's going on and the first
thing it hits you is the smell.It is an assault on the senses
we'll say it's that reallystrong smell. It almost sits on
the back of your throat almostdoesn't it?
TOM HENDRY (05:57):
Yeah we've had a lot of sun recently and a fair bit
of rain so that combination ofheat and rain just releases the
the ammonia smell yeah. But youdo become nose blind quite
quickly
DAN ICETON (06:10):
That's that's very handy isn't it. So we can see
like you see all the kittiwakesand the guillemots and the
razorbills as well. I meanthey're all fantastic birds
aren't they have you had manyguillemots fledging yet? Is it
still too early?
TOM HENDRY (06:23):
No no so we're in full kind of guillemot fledging
season so you can hear all thesquawks. You might be able to
pick out the odd kind ofhigh-pitched cheeping.
This would be the guillemotchicks. They only leave the nest
site when they're about threeweeks old only, about half the
size of the adult. They can'teven fly. The dad will lead them
(06:43):
off the cliff, so they'll jumpoff the ledge into the water,
and that's them out at sea forthe rest, well, for the whole
winter.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (06:52):
The boat docks at the Inner Farne jetty, and
Dan and Tom walk up the rocksonto the island hoping to spot
some puffins or one of theirchicks known as pufflings. Tom
then notices something fluffyand cute in the water.
TOM HENDRY (07:06):
Right so we just got off the boat on the jetty. I've
actually just spotted a pufflingin the water there.
DAN ICETON (07:11):
Oh what a great spot.
TOM HENDRY (07:12):
So they'll actually be one of our actually possibly
our very first puffin that we'veseen actually fledged from the
burrow of its own accord. So theparents will leave leave it to
itself under cover of darknessit typically it'll leave the
burrow, make its way downthrough the vegetation and out
to sea. And that's it now. Forthe next two years of its life,
(07:33):
it'll just be on the water thewhole time.
DAN ICETON (07:35):
Can we go have a look up at the puffin burrows?
See if we can see any morepuffins knocking about maybies?
TOM HENDRY (07:39):
Yeah, let's take a look.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (07:41):
To get to the puffin burrows in the centre of
the island, Dan and Tom firsthave to pass through the Arctic
terns' nesting site. Visitorsare advised to wear a protective
hat for what's about to happen.
DAN ICETON (07:54):
Walking up we can hear the Arctic turns as we go
can't we?
TOM HENDRY (07:58):
Yeah so the first zone it seems to be is the
Arctic turn zone. Which tend tolike nesting around our
buildings and our kind ofinfrastructure weirdly. So this
means that we will be runningthe gauntlet in a way. They do
like to quite vigorously defendtheir young by attacking us,
dive bombing us.
DAN ICETON (08:19):
That's the start of them sort of fluttering up and
they're really chattering.
Above our heads and the odd onesdive bomb and luckily I haven't
been pecked yet. Yeah it's ait's a call isn't it that really
sort of chattering call thatthey like to do
TOM HENDRY (08:35):
That's right yeah. And you can probably see there's
chicks of different sizes. Herewe go
DAN ICETON (08:40):
Oh there we go there's the first peck. It's not
too bad through the hat is itbut you definitely know they've
been
TOM HENDRY (08:49):
I mean i wear quite a thick hat so in my experience
they always manage to get thehole or the weak point.
God it's good to be back.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (09:02):
As Dan and Tom reach the puffin burrows they
can see the little black andwhite seabirds with their
colourful bills and legsscuttling around and flying
past. Inner Farne is a perfecthabitat for the puffins to
create their underground homeswith only the entrances visible
at the surface.
DAN ICETON (09:19):
So walking more towards the puffin burrows and a
lot of them have just flown outto sea kind of flying straight
in front of it really theyalmost seem quite clumsy flyers
compared to the other birds butthey move at quite a pace don't
they?
TOM HENDRY (09:33):
They do. Very fast wing beats
DAN ICETON (09:35):
They're not a massive they're just looking at
some here and they're what 15centimetres tall. But the beak
on them it's a big beacon likeit's that bright orange with
like the the bands of colour onthem.
And yes, so the beak's here forthe summer, and then they lose
(09:56):
the beak don't they? So they dolose that characteristic trait.
TOM HENDRY (09:59):
They do. yeah, it's like a sheath that comes off,
like the coloured sheath comesoff and they've got a much
darker bill for the winterplumage. It's almost like
they've got their party clotheson for the breeding season, you
know, for the partners toattract each other, show that
they're in prime physical shapefor breeding.
And then once that happens, it'sinto the comfies after that. And
(10:22):
then, you know, some moresubdued plumage. So puffin, it's
in the auk family. I mean, youmight say it's like the northern
equivalent of the penguin inmany ways. I mean, they're not
related at all, but there arecertain characteristics, you
know.
There's a lot of black on them.They kind of stand upright. They
(10:43):
all just lay one egg as well.They lay one egg a year. But
puffin's the only one whichburrows underground. There's
quite, there aren't many birdsin Britain that do actually dig
their own burrows and nestunderground. So I think that
fact alone is quite...
Makes them quite amazing birdswhat's quite typical of puffins
and many seabirds is that theyare quite monogamous so they're
(11:05):
kind of loyal to their partnersthey'll take it in turns you
know to incubate the egg and tokind of feed the chick. So
unlike say you know many of theduck species you know the the
males are quite hands-on orbeaks on parents if you like and
with a long lifespan which atypical lifespan is about 15
(11:29):
years, but the record is over 30years old for puffin as well.
With a good, reliable partner, agood location, because they'll
come back to the same burroweach year, the hope is that
they'll get plenty of chicksaway in their lifetime.
They've got that advantage ofbeing underground, adds so much
(11:50):
more protection in terms ofpredators. Puffin chicks, they
can be taken by some of thelarge gull species, such as
herring gulls. And in fact, thebiggest predator we have here,
well, avian predator, the greatblack-backed gull, they can also
sort of take and kill an adultpuffin as well.
DAN ICETON (12:09):
And then round here, well, they're known as many
different sort of names, aren'tthey?
TOM HENDRY (12:14):
They do, they do. There's obviously clowns of the
sea and sea parrots are quitecommon ones although here as
well The local Northumberlandscall them Tommynoddies, which is
a great one.
DAN ICETON (12:29):
Just looking over the island and this whole area,
it's almost pockmarked withburrows and the puffins are kind
of just wandering about quitehappily.
TOM HENDRY (12:38):
This is like the prime habitat for them really.
It's the maritime meadow with anice mix of sea campion, orich
and scurvy grass as well.Campion in particular, you know.
Roots that bind the soiltogether because as you can see
this many burrows you know it'sa bit of a honeycomb situation
(12:58):
going on underground so you needsome robust soil.
DAN ICETON (13:01):
So how many how many burrows are there?
TOM HENDRY (13:03):
So on this island, Inner Farne, we'll have over
15000 pairs of puffins.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (13:11):
A puffin census takes place every year to
keep a check on the colony.Monitoring all the seabirds is
vital, particularly since thebird flu outbreaks of 2022 and
2023. For the puffins, a sampleof burrows is taken and
replicated across the island.
They're assessed for occupation,checking for signs of digging
and droppings. Sometimes therangers put their hands inside
(13:34):
the burrows looking for puffinsand eggs. To gauge adult puffin
survival rates, coloured ringswith three-digit codes are also
used. These are easy to spot andhelp track the birds as they
return to the island.
Tom's licensed to ring thepuffins and has an adult bird
that he needs to do. The firstpart of the job is to get the
puffin out of its burrow.
TOM HENDRY (14:01):
I'm going to try to catch an adult bird to ring it
and then colouring it.
DAN ICETON (14:07):
Tom's just putting his arm into the puffin burrow.
Oh looks like we've gotsomething.
TOM HENDRY (14:11):
We do have something. It was fine to me.
DAN ICETON (14:15):
So while you're doing that what does it feel
like?
TOM HENDRY (14:17):
Quite wriggly
DAN ICETON (14:18):
The length of the burrow is such that it's almost
full arm length. And this isthen the issue of trying to
trying to get these birdsbecause they can't just scoot
right into the back of theburrow. Tom is just pulling the
bird out it's still trying toget away you can see there's a
lot of movement flatness wings alot.
TOM HENDRY (14:40):
Here we go. So that's an adult puffin.
DAN ICETON (14:45):
Tom's holding the bird there.
TOM HENDRY (14:47):
So I've got a bit of a grip around its firm part of
its top of its head there. Theclaws there are very sharp, as
you can see. And they are kindof digging in to me slightly
there.
DAN ICETON (15:01):
Yeah they're digging in.
TOM HENDRY (15:02):
I'll use this ring here. I'm gonna pop it on the
right leg.
DAN ICETON (15:06):
So Tom's just using the the ring and pliers there.
So we're putting the metal ringon this one. Requires quite a
lot of concentration becauseobviously the puffin's not too
keen on just holding its leg outfor you is it it doesn't want to
play ball.
TOM HENDRY (15:20):
It's not no. Okay so now we'll before we let it go
we'll just do a couple ofmeasurements. So we'll we'll do
the wing length so for thiswe'll just place so this is so i
have one five four for the wing.Now this is the tricky bit OK,
(15:41):
would you be okay Dan to help memeasure the the build depth? So
what i'll do i'm going to securethe beak shut and it'll probably
bite me in the process so it'sall fine.
DAN ICETON (15:51):
Good luck there we go
TOM HENDRY (15:52):
Yeah oh that hurt
DAN ICETON (15:55):
It's got a sharp beak
TOM HENDRY (15:56):
So I'd just shut like that. As far as you can,
yeah, just like the top bitthere.
DAN ICETON (16:02):
27.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (16:05):
With the ring in place and the measurements
taken, there's just the puffin'sweight to check. The easiest way
to do this is by placing thepuffin in a small plastic
measuring jug and putting thison the scales. It's a quick
method and doesn't harm thepuffin.
TOM HENDRY (16:20):
Thank you. And the last thing we'll do...
DAN ICETON (16:21):
Is this where the puffin jug comes in?
TOM HENDRY (16:22):
This is where the puffin jug comes in. So I'll
just put the head first in, justfor a moment.
DAN ICETON (16:29):
So head first in, obviously, just to try and stop
it flying away. 2, 8, 1.
TOM HENDRY (16:33):
2, 8, 1?
DAN ICETON (16:34):
Yeah.
TOM HENDRY (16:35):
Great, and that's it.
DAN ICETON (16:36):
And has gone straight back in? Yeah. Happy as
anything. How's your fingers?
TOM HENDRY (16:41):
Fine. Fine.
DAN ICETON (16:43):
I think you see you're covered in scars anyways,
aren't you?
TOM HENDRY (16:45):
Yeah, two more for the collection.
DAN ICETON (16:47):
It's a dangerous job.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (16:51):
The rangers are following a long tradition
of past wardens and watchers onthe Farne Islands, keeping an
eye on the seabirds and theirnumbers. The monitoring
information is given toorganisations like the British
Trust For Ornithology andcontributes to the national
picture of seabird health.
It's also used by the rangers toget insights into some of the
(17:12):
issues that the birds might faceon the Farne Islands and helps
them plan for managing these infuture years.
TOM HENDRY (17:20):
In terms of puffins, the most important thing is to
maintain the habitat as much aspossible.
This is trying to prevent someof the erosion that might happen
because seals for example on theouter group they can cause a bit
of damage to the soil erosion aswell which might affect the
puffin burrows. So on InnerFarne we just want to try and
prevent them from coming up toptoo high.
(17:41):
Puffins like all seabirds youknow they they will be affected
by increasingly poor weather andclimate change as well some of
the work that we're doing isgiving it all give them a
fighting chance. All that wewant to do is keep a close eye
on the species and do all wecan. To ensure that they'll be
here and thriving in another 100years time.
DAN ICETON (18:07):
It's been a real pleasure being back on the Farne
Islands. I hadn't quite realisedhow much I'd missed the place
until we came back on. But it'sjust been lovely seeing all the
birds and seeing the puffins.They're such a charismatic
animal. But what's really niceis just sort of hearing that
good news story.
The population is stable. Theyare still here and they are
(18:29):
doing well, which is what wewant to hear going forward. This
is such a difficult environmentto work on. There's a lot of
challenges working here. You getpooed on, you get pecked, and
that's just part of your normalday job.
But it is really such aprivilege to experience the
habitat and lives of theseamazing birds. And that is going
(18:51):
to stay with me forever.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (19:06):
Thanks for listening to this episode of
Wild Tales. If you liked it whynot give us a like or a follow
we'll be back soon with anotherepisode in a couple of weeks.
But if you can't wait that longwhy not check out our other
nature podcast Nature Fix. Or ifyou like your history too
there's Back When. I'll see younext time
Everybody thinks that they're these very cute,
gentle birds, which, you know,they are cute, but they really
are feisty. They've got strongwings, so they'll wriggle a lot.
They dig the burrows themselveswith the sharp claws on their
feet.
They will kind of claw you,which is very painful. They'll
bite you, which is obviouslypainful as well. You usually end
(00:55):
up with the odd scar or cut ifyou're trying to handle them,
which is, you know, as it shouldbe, I suppose.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (01:04):
In the summer months, a remote rocky island in
the North Sea becomes a wildlifespectacle when it's taken over
by bustling colonies ofseabirds. One in particular with
a load of colour and charisma.
I'm Rosie Holdsworth and forthis episode,
Northumberland-based ranger DanIceton joins a Farne Islands
ranger who's going to extremelengths to care for these
(01:27):
unmistakable seabirds.
Welcome to Wild Tales and theClowns of the Sea. The colourful
lives of the Farne Islands'Puffins.
(01:58):
The Farne Islands are a wildlifehaven one and a half miles off
the coast of Northumberland.Made up of 28 islands forming
the inner and outer farnes. Onthe 10th of August 1925, the
Farne Islands came into the careof the National Trust, so we're
celebrating the 100thanniversary.
The islands are a nationalnature reserve and home to a
(02:21):
breeding colony of 23 differentspecies of seabirds, including
eider duck, gillimot, razorbill,kittiwake, arctic tern and
puffin, as well as being animportant stop-off point for a
host of migratory birds, fromlong-eared owls to blue-throats
and ring ouzles. During thewinter, it's also home to a
colony of grey seals who returneach year to pup.
(02:48):
Dan Iceton used to be a rangeron the Farne Islands, so it's a
place close to his heart. He'scatching up with ranger Tom
Hendry to find out about thework he's been doing with the
Farnes' seabirds, andparticularly the puffins.
DAN ICETON (03:01):
Hello Tom, how are you doing? You alright?
TOM HENDRY (03:03):
Hello Dan, how are you? Good to see you again.
DAN ICETON (03:04):
We're about to jump on a boat in order to get to the
farms, and that is your commuteto work, isn't it?
TOM HENDRY (03:09):
It is indeed. Seems so normal really for us, but
each day is a bit different. Saytoday there'll be a little bit
of chop on the sea. If the windsare kind of northerly or
easterly, we could have somereally big swell. It can be hard
to land the boats.
DAN ICETON (03:21):
And then you were talking about how the boats
might not be able to land. Doesthat mean that you end up stuck
out there? Can you be stuck forquite a while?
TOM HENDRY (03:28):
I've been stuck in the past before. I think my
record's about 10 days I've beenout there before.
DAN ICETON (03:33):
The boat's just arrived, so should we jump on?
TOM HENDRY (03:35):
Indeed, let's jump on. There we go.
DAN ICETON (03:46):
So we've just left Seahouses Harbour in the boat
into the North Sea, and it'sparticularly choppy today. So
what sort of wildlife would youexpect to see on this commute?
TOM HENDRY (03:57):
Well a mixture really. We'll see some of our
birds going back and forth, youknow, kind of gathering food to
kind of to feed their young. Soit could be guillimots, could be
shags, kittiwakes. A bit closerto the island, that's when we'll
start to see the puffins. Ifyou're very lucky, we do see
dolphins every few days sortpassing through.
The odd seal kind of bobbing itshead up as well. We do have a
(04:18):
big population of seals aroundthe farness. This time of year,
not so many. In recent weekswe've had a pod of orca that
have been visiting as well. Aye.It's the first time around the
islands themselves for around 30years or something.
DAN ICETON (04:31):
So a really, really big deal seeing them.
TOM HENDRY (04:33):
A deal seeing them again, yes.
DAN ICETON (04:36):
Yeah, so how was it seeing the orca? I mean, like,
what was that like?
TOM HENDRY (04:39):
Oh, I mean, it was really exciting. I mean, I've
never seen any orca before, so Iwas just thrilled to see them.
I've been to the islands since2016 and you hear all the old
stories from the 80s and beforeabout orca you used to be orca
around. So you always just thinkoh yeah it'll never happen and
then you see those massive finsyou know, finally, everyone
(05:01):
getting sighted. Yeah, somethingelse really. Amazing.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (05:09):
Hoping to be one of the lucky few to spot an
orca close to the Farne Islands,Dan and Tom scan the horizon for
a glimpse of an enormous fin.
It's not to be on this trip. Buttheir attention soon shifts as
they get closer to the cliffs ofInner Farne.
(05:29):
There are a lot of seabirdsflying around. And their cry is
growing louder. And the air isbecoming more pungent.
DAN ICETON (05:41):
So the boat's coming in close a little cliff, we're
gonna have a quick look atwhat's going on and the first
thing it hits you is the smell.It is an assault on the senses
we'll say it's that reallystrong smell. It almost sits on
the back of your throat almostdoesn't it?
TOM HENDRY (05:57):
Yeah we've had a lot of sun recently and a fair bit
of rain so that combination ofheat and rain just releases the
the ammonia smell yeah. But youdo become nose blind quite
quickly
DAN ICETON (06:10):
That's that's very handy isn't it. So we can see
like you see all the kittiwakesand the guillemots and the
razorbills as well. I meanthey're all fantastic birds
aren't they have you had manyguillemots fledging yet? Is it
still too early?
TOM HENDRY (06:23):
No no so we're in full kind of guillemot fledging
season so you can hear all thesquawks. You might be able to
pick out the odd kind ofhigh-pitched cheeping.
This would be the guillemotchicks. They only leave the nest
site when they're about threeweeks old only, about half the
size of the adult. They can'teven fly. The dad will lead them
(06:43):
off the cliff, so they'll jumpoff the ledge into the water,
and that's them out at sea forthe rest, well, for the whole
winter.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (06:52):
The boat docks at the Inner Farne jetty, and
Dan and Tom walk up the rocksonto the island hoping to spot
some puffins or one of theirchicks known as pufflings. Tom
then notices something fluffyand cute in the water.
TOM HENDRY (07:06):
Right so we just got off the boat on the jetty. I've
actually just spotted a pufflingin the water there.
DAN ICETON (07:11):
Oh what a great spot.
TOM HENDRY (07:12):
So they'll actually be one of our actually possibly
our very first puffin that we'veseen actually fledged from the
burrow of its own accord. So theparents will leave leave it to
itself under cover of darknessit typically it'll leave the
burrow, make its way downthrough the vegetation and out
to sea. And that's it now. Forthe next two years of its life,
(07:33):
it'll just be on the water thewhole time.
DAN ICETON (07:35):
Can we go have a look up at the puffin burrows?
See if we can see any morepuffins knocking about maybies?
TOM HENDRY (07:39):
Yeah, let's take a look.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (07:41):
To get to the puffin burrows in the centre of
the island, Dan and Tom firsthave to pass through the Arctic
terns' nesting site. Visitorsare advised to wear a protective
hat for what's about to happen.
DAN ICETON (07:54):
Walking up we can hear the Arctic turns as we go
can't we?
TOM HENDRY (07:58):
Yeah so the first zone it seems to be is the
Arctic turn zone. Which tend tolike nesting around our
buildings and our kind ofinfrastructure weirdly. So this
means that we will be runningthe gauntlet in a way. They do
like to quite vigorously defendtheir young by attacking us,
dive bombing us.
DAN ICETON (08:19):
That's the start of them sort of fluttering up and
they're really chattering.
Above our heads and the odd onesdive bomb and luckily I haven't
been pecked yet. Yeah it's ait's a call isn't it that really
sort of chattering call thatthey like to do
TOM HENDRY (08:35):
That's right yeah. And you can probably see there's
chicks of different sizes. Herewe go
DAN ICETON (08:40):
Oh there we go there's the first peck. It's not
too bad through the hat is itbut you definitely know they've
been
TOM HENDRY (08:49):
I mean i wear quite a thick hat so in my experience
they always manage to get thehole or the weak point.
God it's good to be back.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (09:02):
As Dan and Tom reach the puffin burrows they
can see the little black andwhite seabirds with their
colourful bills and legsscuttling around and flying
past. Inner Farne is a perfecthabitat for the puffins to
create their underground homeswith only the entrances visible
at the surface.
DAN ICETON (09:19):
So walking more towards the puffin burrows and a
lot of them have just flown outto sea kind of flying straight
in front of it really theyalmost seem quite clumsy flyers
compared to the other birds butthey move at quite a pace don't
they?
TOM HENDRY (09:33):
They do. Very fast wing beats
DAN ICETON (09:35):
They're not a massive they're just looking at
some here and they're what 15centimetres tall. But the beak
on them it's a big beacon likeit's that bright orange with
like the the bands of colour onthem.
And yes, so the beak's here forthe summer, and then they lose
(09:56):
the beak don't they? So they dolose that characteristic trait.
TOM HENDRY (09:59):
They do. yeah, it's like a sheath that comes off,
like the coloured sheath comesoff and they've got a much
darker bill for the winterplumage. It's almost like
they've got their party clotheson for the breeding season, you
know, for the partners toattract each other, show that
they're in prime physical shapefor breeding.
And then once that happens, it'sinto the comfies after that. And
(10:22):
then, you know, some moresubdued plumage. So puffin, it's
in the auk family. I mean, youmight say it's like the northern
equivalent of the penguin inmany ways. I mean, they're not
related at all, but there arecertain characteristics, you
know.
There's a lot of black on them.They kind of stand upright. They
(10:43):
all just lay one egg as well.They lay one egg a year. But
puffin's the only one whichburrows underground. There's
quite, there aren't many birdsin Britain that do actually dig
their own burrows and nestunderground. So I think that
fact alone is quite...
Makes them quite amazing birdswhat's quite typical of puffins
and many seabirds is that theyare quite monogamous so they're
(11:05):
kind of loyal to their partnersthey'll take it in turns you
know to incubate the egg and tokind of feed the chick. So
unlike say you know many of theduck species you know the the
males are quite hands-on orbeaks on parents if you like and
with a long lifespan which atypical lifespan is about 15
(11:29):
years, but the record is over 30years old for puffin as well.
With a good, reliable partner, agood location, because they'll
come back to the same burroweach year, the hope is that
they'll get plenty of chicksaway in their lifetime.
They've got that advantage ofbeing underground, adds so much
(11:50):
more protection in terms ofpredators. Puffin chicks, they
can be taken by some of thelarge gull species, such as
herring gulls. And in fact, thebiggest predator we have here,
well, avian predator, the greatblack-backed gull, they can also
sort of take and kill an adultpuffin as well.
DAN ICETON (12:09):
And then round here, well, they're known as many
different sort of names, aren'tthey?
TOM HENDRY (12:14):
They do, they do. There's obviously clowns of the
sea and sea parrots are quitecommon ones although here as
well The local Northumberlandscall them Tommynoddies, which is
a great one.
DAN ICETON (12:29):
Just looking over the island and this whole area,
it's almost pockmarked withburrows and the puffins are kind
of just wandering about quitehappily.
TOM HENDRY (12:38):
This is like the prime habitat for them really.
It's the maritime meadow with anice mix of sea campion, orich
and scurvy grass as well.Campion in particular, you know.
Roots that bind the soiltogether because as you can see
this many burrows you know it'sa bit of a honeycomb situation
(12:58):
going on underground so you needsome robust soil.
DAN ICETON (13:01):
So how many how many burrows are there?
TOM HENDRY (13:03):
So on this island, Inner Farne, we'll have over
15000 pairs of puffins.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (13:11):
A puffin census takes place every year to
keep a check on the colony.Monitoring all the seabirds is
vital, particularly since thebird flu outbreaks of 2022 and
2023. For the puffins, a sampleof burrows is taken and
replicated across the island.
They're assessed for occupation,checking for signs of digging
and droppings. Sometimes therangers put their hands inside
(13:34):
the burrows looking for puffinsand eggs. To gauge adult puffin
survival rates, coloured ringswith three-digit codes are also
used. These are easy to spot andhelp track the birds as they
return to the island.
Tom's licensed to ring thepuffins and has an adult bird
that he needs to do. The firstpart of the job is to get the
puffin out of its burrow.
TOM HENDRY (14:01):
I'm going to try to catch an adult bird to ring it
and then colouring it.
DAN ICETON (14:07):
Tom's just putting his arm into the puffin burrow.
Oh looks like we've gotsomething.
TOM HENDRY (14:11):
We do have something. It was fine to me.
DAN ICETON (14:15):
So while you're doing that what does it feel
like?
TOM HENDRY (14:17):
Quite wriggly
DAN ICETON (14:18):
The length of the burrow is such that it's almost
full arm length. And this isthen the issue of trying to
trying to get these birdsbecause they can't just scoot
right into the back of theburrow. Tom is just pulling the
bird out it's still trying toget away you can see there's a
lot of movement flatness wings alot.
TOM HENDRY (14:40):
Here we go. So that's an adult puffin.
DAN ICETON (14:45):
Tom's holding the bird there.
TOM HENDRY (14:47):
So I've got a bit of a grip around its firm part of
its top of its head there. Theclaws there are very sharp, as
you can see. And they are kindof digging in to me slightly
there.
DAN ICETON (15:01):
Yeah they're digging in.
TOM HENDRY (15:02):
I'll use this ring here. I'm gonna pop it on the
right leg.
DAN ICETON (15:06):
So Tom's just using the the ring and pliers there.
So we're putting the metal ringon this one. Requires quite a
lot of concentration becauseobviously the puffin's not too
keen on just holding its leg outfor you is it it doesn't want to
play ball.
TOM HENDRY (15:20):
It's not no. Okay so now we'll before we let it go
we'll just do a couple ofmeasurements. So we'll we'll do
the wing length so for thiswe'll just place so this is so i
have one five four for the wing.Now this is the tricky bit OK,
(15:41):
would you be okay Dan to help memeasure the the build depth? So
what i'll do i'm going to securethe beak shut and it'll probably
bite me in the process so it'sall fine.
DAN ICETON (15:51):
Good luck there we go
TOM HENDRY (15:52):
Yeah oh that hurt
DAN ICETON (15:55):
It's got a sharp beak
TOM HENDRY (15:56):
So I'd just shut like that. As far as you can,
yeah, just like the top bitthere.
DAN ICETON (16:02):
27.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (16:05):
With the ring in place and the measurements
taken, there's just the puffin'sweight to check. The easiest way
to do this is by placing thepuffin in a small plastic
measuring jug and putting thison the scales. It's a quick
method and doesn't harm thepuffin.
TOM HENDRY (16:20):
Thank you. And the last thing we'll do...
DAN ICETON (16:21):
Is this where the puffin jug comes in?
TOM HENDRY (16:22):
This is where the puffin jug comes in. So I'll
just put the head first in, justfor a moment.
DAN ICETON (16:29):
So head first in, obviously, just to try and stop
it flying away. 2, 8, 1.
TOM HENDRY (16:33):
2, 8, 1?
DAN ICETON (16:34):
Yeah.
TOM HENDRY (16:35):
Great, and that's it.
DAN ICETON (16:36):
And has gone straight back in? Yeah. Happy as
anything. How's your fingers?
TOM HENDRY (16:41):
Fine. Fine.
DAN ICETON (16:43):
I think you see you're covered in scars anyways,
aren't you?
TOM HENDRY (16:45):
Yeah, two more for the collection.
DAN ICETON (16:47):
It's a dangerous job.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (16:51):
The rangers are following a long tradition
of past wardens and watchers onthe Farne Islands, keeping an
eye on the seabirds and theirnumbers. The monitoring
information is given toorganisations like the British
Trust For Ornithology andcontributes to the national
picture of seabird health.
It's also used by the rangers toget insights into some of the
(17:12):
issues that the birds might faceon the Farne Islands and helps
them plan for managing these infuture years.
TOM HENDRY (17:20):
In terms of puffins, the most important thing is to
maintain the habitat as much aspossible.
This is trying to prevent someof the erosion that might happen
because seals for example on theouter group they can cause a bit
of damage to the soil erosion aswell which might affect the
puffin burrows. So on InnerFarne we just want to try and
prevent them from coming up toptoo high.
(17:41):
Puffins like all seabirds youknow they they will be affected
by increasingly poor weather andclimate change as well some of
the work that we're doing isgiving it all give them a
fighting chance. All that wewant to do is keep a close eye
on the species and do all wecan. To ensure that they'll be
here and thriving in another 100years time.
DAN ICETON (18:07):
It's been a real pleasure being back on the Farne
Islands. I hadn't quite realisedhow much I'd missed the place
until we came back on. But it'sjust been lovely seeing all the
birds and seeing the puffins.They're such a charismatic
animal. But what's really niceis just sort of hearing that
good news story.
The population is stable. Theyare still here and they are
(18:29):
doing well, which is what wewant to hear going forward. This
is such a difficult environmentto work on. There's a lot of
challenges working here. You getpooed on, you get pecked, and
that's just part of your normalday job.
But it is really such aprivilege to experience the
habitat and lives of theseamazing birds. And that is going
(18:51):
to stay with me forever.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (19:06):
Thanks for listening to this episode of
Wild Tales. If you liked it whynot give us a like or a follow
we'll be back soon with anotherepisode in a couple of weeks.
But if you can't wait that longwhy not check out our other
nature podcast Nature Fix. Or ifyou like your history too
there's Back When. I'll see younext time
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