A baby puffin, known as a puffling, has been spotted on the Dorset coast for the first time in 30 years, offering hope for the last known regular nesting site for puffins on the mainland of southern England.
Volunteers have been monitoring the cliffs of the Purbeck coast near Swanage for weeks. The puffling was seen and photographed on 7 July, emerging from a crevice where its parents had been feeding it.
Signs of hope for the colony
In the 1950s, about 80 birds nested there, but numbers dropped to just three pairs. No fledglings had been definitively seen for three decades, raising fears the colony could die out.
This summer, 13 volunteers spent 15 weeks observing the ledges. In April, six adult puffins were recorded. Soon after, volunteers saw puffins carrying fish into at least two nesting locations, suggesting more than one pair may have been trying to raise chicks.
Most fish deliveries stopped after 12 June, but one spot continued to receive food. Eventually, the puffling was spotted.
Expert delight
Marine ornithologist Richard Caldow, supported by volunteers from the Purbeck Natural History Forum, said: “Seeing the puffling was a great thrill. Every chick matters. One puffling alone won’t save this colony but one is a whole lot better news than none.”
The team timed their observation carefully. “We knew its parents had been feeding it since about 29 May until 5 July so by then it was 38 days old. By then it was likely to come into the open occasionally, usually if a parent was there too. That was most likely in evening so we chartered a boat on 7 July to anchor in the right spot from 4 till 8pm. It took three hours but just after 7pm it popped out behind its parent. Great to see,” Caldow said.
He believes the puffling may have fledged that night. “Where it is now we have no idea. It will be well out at sea somewhere on its own. The parents don’t look after it once it fledges. It won’t come back for at least two years and won’t breed till 2030 at the soonest. It may come back here but it could go somewhere different.”
Ongoing conservation efforts
Caldow, who has nearly 40 years’ experience researching coastal birds, said the sighting shows that Purbeck puffins can still lay fertile eggs, hatch them, and find enough food to rear a chick while avoiding predators.
The National Trust has been investigating why the colony has failed to produce chicks. Theories include rats, peregrine falcons, and the climate emergency. Motion-sensor cameras, powered by solar panels, have been installed by high-rope experts to capture activity inside the nesting crevices. The cameras will be retrieved after the breeding season, and volunteers will review the thousands of images.
Ben Cooke, rivers and coast project officer for the National Trust in Purbeck, said: “The images should hopefully reveal more of the nesting, feeding and fledging activity of the puffins. Understanding what is happening inside the nesting crevice is the missing piece of the puzzle. If we can identify the reasons why chicks and eggs are being lost, we can begin to explore what conservation measures might help. Puffins are such an iconic bird, we want to do everything in our power to help them survive in Purbeck.”
