The island where puffins are defying the odds
Puffin numbers are up on Inner Farne, with experts saying that could guide research into preserving species - Beth Thompson/Cover Images
In 676 AD, Saint Cuthbert banned the hunting of eider ducks on the island of Inner Farne in what is believed to be this country’s earliest recorded bird protection law.
Centuries later, the island off the coast of Northumberland is offering hope for another vulnerable migrating bird species – the Atlantic puffin.
Seabirds have struggled following an exceptionally difficult winter in the North Atlantic.
The number of puffin pairs breeding on the Farne Islands has fallen 12 per cent from 38,559 last year to 33,939 this year, according to the National Trust’s annual survey of seabirds.
However, while numbers have declined overall on the archipelago of 15 or so islands, they have increased slightly on Inner Farne.
Sophia Jackson-Chaytor, senior ranger for the National Trust on the Farne Islands, told The Telegraph that the overall trends were “very concerning” but that the increase on Inner Farne would guide research into preserving the species.
“We’ve got hypotheses that we believe in, and we’re at the start of research now so we can hopefully improve their population on multiple islands,” she said.
Some working theories suggest an increased human presence on the island has deterred gulls who steal food from pufflings and seals who squash burrows in nesting areas from coming.
Another is that soil management Ms Jackson-Chaytor’s team is conducting has helped preserve their burrows, encouraging them to return to the island after winter.
She added: “The overall population is declining, but we are figuring out how we can best help them when they come back to land for the short period of time to breed over the summer.”
Such research includes tagging a number of birds as part of the trust’s “crucial long term monitoring”.
Ranger Sophia Jackson conducting a seabird count on the Farne Islands - National Trust/Beth Thompson/Cover Images
Prof Chris Redfern, of Newcastle University, who reviews and validates the seabird data, spoke of “challenging times for the Farnes’ breeding seabirds”.
“Many of the pressures affecting seabirds originate far beyond the Farnes themselves,” he said.
“Human activity influences the marine environment at global, national and local scales, and human-driven changes to that environment, combined with disease and extreme weather, are likely contributing to declines in some breeding species.”
European shags, Arctic terns, northern fulmars and common guillemots saw breeding numbers fall, in the wake of the hard winter in the North Atlantic when three severe storms contributed to a major seabird “wreck” in which large numbers of birds washed up dead or dying on beaches.
More than 38,000 seabirds were stranded along the Atlantic coasts of Spain, Portugal and France as a result of the storms, while hundreds of puffins washed ashore in south-west England, in what is thought to be Europe’s largest seabird wreck since 2014.
Conservationists warned the scale of the event showed how vulnerable seabirds were to extreme weather, which is said to be more frequent as a result of human-caused climate change.
And with a “super” El Niño climate phenomenon in the Pacific – which affects weather around the world – developing this year, the possibility of more unsettled winter conditions could cause more difficulties for already struggling birds.
The National Trust also said long-term monitoring of puffins showed declines of more than a fifth (22.8 per cent) since 2018 – with similar declines recorded at neighbouring puffin colonies that suggest the pressures on the birds extend beyond the Farnes.
A ranger team conducts nest counts on the Farne Islands - National Trust/Beth Thompson/Cover Images
However, the annual survey showed black-headed gull numbers increased by 55 per cent, from 128 to 198 pairs, as they recovered after being hit by avian flu in 2022.
Their increased presence could have benefits for smaller breeding birds on the Farnes, such as Sandwich and common terns, as their colonies provide protection from larger predatory gulls, the National Trust said.
The islands, which host around 220,000 birds each summer, also saw an increase in razorbill numbers, of 17 per cent from 408 to 478 pairs, while rangers found four gadwall nests, following their first recorded breeding on the islands in 2024 and no nests in 2025.
There were also encouraging signs for the ground-nesting birds in the form of more chicks surviving to fledging, with an average of 0.89 chicks fledging per occupied burrow, up from 0.78 in 2025 and 0.51 in 2024.
Ben McCarthy, head of nature conservation at the National Trust, said improved puffin breeding success, as well as the recovery of black-headed gulls, showed that “nature can respond positively when conditions improve”.
He added: “The Farne Islands are one of the UK’s most important seabird sanctuaries, so the trends we’re seeing here matter far beyond Northumberland.
“This year’s census highlights the growing pressures facing seabirds and how those pressures can combine, making populations less resilient to future challenges.”
Puffins are among a host of seabird species threatened by the environment - National Trust/Hannah Wilkes/Cover Images
Ms Jackson-Chaytor, whose team monitors nine islands, said puffins and shags were both “particularly vulnerable” to severe winter weather.
She said: “Puffins spend much of the winter far out at sea, where repeated storms and rough conditions can make it harder to find food and increase the energy they need simply to survive.
“Shags stay closer to the coast and their feathers aren’t fully waterproof, which helps them dive for food but means they need to regularly return to land to dry out.
“Prolonged periods of wet and stormy weather can therefore be particularly challenging for them.”
The survey found Arctic terns fell 27 per cent from 519 to 377 pairs, northern fulmars were down 21 per cent from 235 to 186 breeding pairs and common guillemot numbers fell 11 per cent from 44,509 to 39,059 individuals.
European shags had one of the steepest declines among the birds that nest there, falling 42 per cent from 96 to 56 breeding pairs.
Source: Nature
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