Puffling spotted at colony in 'danger of extinction'

A rare glimpse of a young puffin peeping out from a deep crevice on a south coast cliff has given conservationists fresh hope for the future of a dwindling colony.

It is the first time in 30 years volunteers monitoring the colony on the Dorset coast have a confirmed sighting of a puffin fledgling, known as a puffling.

The sheer cliff in Purbeck, near the National Trust's Dancing Ledge, is home to the last breeding colony on mainland England's south coast, but experts fear it is at risk of being lost altogether.

Dr Richard Caldow, who is leading a project monitoring the birds, said: "One puffling alone won't save this colony, but one is a whole lot better news than none."

Volunteers from the Purbeck Natural History Forum, who are supporting the project, first spotted fish being taken into the ledge on 31 May, with the last fish delivery recorded on 5 July.

Caldow, an expert in seabird ecology, estimated the puffling to be 38 to 40 days old.

Puffins typically fledge between 38 and 44 days after hatching.

Before the sighting, volunteers spent 15 weeks observing the adult puffins courting, mating, carrying nesting material and, since late May, delivering fish to the nests hidden deep within the crevice.

"Seeing the puffling was a great thrill, the first puffling that's been recorded in Purbeck for a long time," Caldow added.

"It tells us that Purbeck puffins can still lay fertile eggs, hatch them and, at least in some years, find enough food to rear a chick and escape the attention of predators."

After the puffling leaves the ledge it will spend several years alone at sea.

Experts say that if it survives it may return to Purbeck once it reaches about two years of age, although puffins do not normally breed until they are about four years old.

About 80 years ago the colony was home to approximately 40 pairs of puffins but it has dwindled to just three pairs in recent years.

The National Trust has warned the colony is still "very much in danger of extinction".

In April, six adult puffins were recorded at the colony and there were hopes more chicks would successfully fledge.

In early June volunteers saw puffins carrying fish to at least two separate nesting sites, indicating that more than one pair was attempting to raise chicks.

However, the other deliveries stopped after 12 June suggesting any other chicks had not survived.

Thirteen volunteers gave up around 150 hours of their time to watch the nesting ledge, while additional puffin sightings were provided by commercial boats.

In March motion-sensor cameras, powered by solar, were installed deep inside the cervices, to help the National Trust understand why the colony had been failing to produce chicks.

The cameras will be recovered after the breeding season so the images can be reviewed by volunteers.