Farne Island puffins thrive despite avian flu fears

The Farne Islands lie off the coast of Northumberland. They have been described as “possibly the most exciting seabird colony in England” and are currently home to around 50,000 breeding pairs of puffins. They are doing remarkably well despite concerns around outbreaks of avian flu, which we have reported on this programme. Members of this beautiful and endangered species usually start breeding in May, with young chicks - which are called pufflings - arriving later in the British summer. Sophia Jackson from the National Trust is out there right now, keeping an eye on them…

Sophia - The Farne Islands are off the Northumberland coast in the United Kingdom. It's about 27 islands when the tide is low and we count puffins on 9 of those islands. On Inner Farne, for example, we've got, this year, 26,500 pairs of puffins. This is because the top soil is really ideal for them to burrow into the ground. The island looks like holey cheese. Some burrows do overlap with others because there are so many. And most importantly on that, we've got no ground predators, which means there's nothing that can go into their burrows and get their egg or get their chick when they are breeding. We're in the North Sea, we've got marine protection zones around our islands as well. So it means that their food source is protected.

Chris - Do they have to share their ground space with any neighbours?

Sophia - Yes, so the Farne Islands are really rich for all species. We've got over 200,000 seabirds nest here. Guillemots and kittiwakes and razorbills, shags, all on the cliffs. We've got a really large important population of grey seals as well. So we'll have them lolloping up into the island and pupping in the winter as well. So yeah, they've got a lot of noisy neighbours to deal with out here <laugh>.

Chris - And to what do you attribute the fact that the population has gone up? The 2019 census showed just north of 40,000, now you think north of 50,000. So quite a substantial increase. Is that just because there wasn't an accurate count before or have they genuinely increased in number?

Sophia - So it sounds like a lot, but that increase would've been gradual over five years. We weren't quite sure what to expect because the puffin population is declining globally. We were very surprised that ours has gone up by 15%. But I think just with the ideal habitat they've got here, they are thriving, which is really good. But it shows the importance of constant monitoring. So we're going to do the survey every year and just keep an eye on them and see what's happening.

Chris - We reported on our programme that - in fact, speaking to people from the RSPB and so on - that there was real concern about what bird flu might do to rare species, including puffins in places like the Farne Islands. So it looks like they have weathered the flu storm. Why do you think that, thank God, that what we feared might happen didn't?

Sophia - We're so relieved that puffins managed to weather the avian flu storm on the Farne Islands. They didn't avoid it completely. So in 2023 and 2022, the peak years of avian flu, we did pick up 938 puffins. However, compared to all the other species, that was nothing. Puffins, the way they nest, I think has helped them. Because they burrow into the ground and they've only got a couple of neighbours underground, disease is less likely to spread between the puffins. So unlike the cliff nesting birds, the guillemots nest really close together and they're all sharing a tiny space. There's lots of food around, they're all squishing together. So almost like what we did during Covid when we locked down and went into our own houses, the puffins have their own houses. There was a study done of the Isle of May, which was very interesting as well, and it showed some immunity within puffins. So whether or not that's shared within our puffin population as well would be interesting to know.

Chris - And you're off on your way over there today, are you?

Sophia - Yes. Inner Farne today, so we came over on a very wavy boat crossing, but we are in the North Sea. So that's what to expect. When you come over, you make sure your bags are clear of all potential ground predators. There's a foam mat you walk through when you get onto the island to take any diseases and things off of your feet. So we're doing everything we can to still prevent avian flu coming onto the island.

Chris - Although of course if it arrives with a bird, which is not going to follow those sorts of protocols. That must remain a huge risk. Do you actually have a monitoring system in place so that you are going and sampling to see what is circulating among the birds there?

Sophia - So we have lots of protocols in place. So if we find a dead bird that doesn't look like it's been predated, there's not lots of feathers around it and things like that, it looks like it's just died, we will send that off. So we contact DEFRA and someone comes and collects it and sends it to the lab and they do the tests on it as to why it died. Has it got avian flu? Luckily none of them have had avian flu this year, which is very good.

Chris - That's very encouraging, isn't it? But what guidance is given to protect people? Because obviously if you're in a place where there are tens of thousands of birds and we are having big outbreaks of bird flu, thank goodness not there at the moment, but there is the potential for people to pick things up, isn't there? So are you practising particular protocols to make sure that you are not exposed?

Sophia - We advise when visitors come onto the island that they wear a waterproof coat. So if they do get pooped on, which is quite a high possibility on the Farne Islands because there's so many birds, you can just wipe it off. We've got various antibacterial, hand sanitiser stations around the island as well. When the team does go and pick up a dead bird to send off, even if there's no avian flu this year, we'll still wear full PPE. So we'll wear a hazmat suit, goggles, mask, gauntlets, and wellies to pick up that bird just in case it's got something. But if there are signs of avian flu that do appear, we will close the island to protect people and protect the birds.