As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.
Showing posts with label pufflings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pufflings. Show all posts

Tuesday, 13 August 2013

Pufflings; rare footage captured in Alderney



Living Islands live: a Puffin Season on Burhou

July 2013. After five years of trying, real-life, live footage of the actual fledgling walk of a Puffling has been captured for the first time and shared with the world to see by Alderney Wildlife Trust (AWT).

Notoriously shy
Pufflings are notoriously shy, and footage which captures the first long waddle out to sea by a fledgling chick is extremely rare. The team behind the unique LIVE broadcast continual live footage of the Puffins of Burhou, a small island one mile north-west of Alderney, has confirmed it is definitely the first time footage has been captured in the region.

The magic moment as one of the Pufflings from the colony, the largest in the Channel Islands and British Channel, makes its hesitant journey to float off on the tide into open water and into its first flight.

Thursday, 1 August 2013

Look out for baby puffins under your car in North Berwick

Scottish Seabird Centre asks drivers to check for young puffins hiding under cars

July 2013. The Scottish Seabird Centre has appealed to local drivers around North Berwick to be alert for young puffins - or pufflings - under their cars.

Over the next few weeks, puffins will leave their burrows around Scotland's coasts and return to sea until they return to breed next spring. However, after leaving their burrows some pufflings become disorientated by the lights from neighbouring towns. Their first ever flight may see them flying into town and then seeking out somewhere dark and out the way to hide - they often settle underneath cars.

Staff at the Seabird Centre have, in previous years, been alerted to numerous lost pufflings - one was found wandering along a corridor in the Marine Hotel in North Berwick, and one (christened Buddy by Seabird Centre staff) under a vehicle in the local supermarket car park.

Call if you find a puffling
The Scottish Seabird Centre's Chief Executive, Tom Brock OBE, has appealed for drivers to be vigilant and to call the Scottish Seabird Centre on 01620 890202 or the SSPCA on 03000 999 999.