For the first time, footage has been captured of a puffling, a young puffin, bred on Lighthouse Island off the County Down coast. This marks a significant milestone for an introduction scheme launched around 2013 to establish a puffin population on the previously uninhabited island.
Puffins are seabirds synonymous with Rathlin Island, which is located off County Antrim. They are not indigenous to Lighthouse Island. However, conservationists implemented a strategy to encourage their presence, which has now resulted in approximately 30 breeding pairs.
The puffins arrive on Lighthouse Island each April. This year, trail cameras positioned near their ground burrows filmed a young puffling emerging and an adult puffin returning with fish to feed its offspring. This development is being hailed as a success story for the long-term conservation initiative.
To attract the puffins to Lighthouse Island, the introduction scheme employed methods such as placing fake "decoy" puffins and utilizing a solar-powered speaker system to broadcast puffin calls. These efforts aimed to create an environment that mimicked a thriving puffin colony, thereby encouraging the birds to nest and breed.