Remote puffin webcam draws thousands of viewers

A webcam allowing people to spy on puffins has garnered tens of thousands of views.

The National Trust has set up cameras near puffin burrows and clifftops on the Farne Islands, off the coast of Northumberland.

Lead ranger James Porteus said viewers were "loving it" and that it was helping to end unequal access to nature.

He said people were able to witness some "really amazing behaviour up close" and told viewers to keep an eye out for pufflings - baby puffins - leaving their burrows at dusk, previously rarely seen as visiting hours on the remote islands are restricted.

The Farne Islands are a National Nature Reserve in England and an internationally important home to approximately 200,000 seabirds.

Mr Porteus said viewers had seen puffins bringing fish into their burrows, opportunistic gulls trying to steal the catch, and "amazing sunsets" on the north-west facing camera.

"There's always something to watch," he said.

Puffins have been facing growing threats including climate change, Mr Porteus said.

"They're a species that need our help," he said.

Facilities manager for the Northumberland coast Daniel Wilson said the cameras were solar battery powered and look like a blended piece of landscape.

They were set up to capture the 2025 breeding season and were installed just before the first seabirds arrived.

Mr Wilson, who has been with the trust for about 20 years, said seeing the huge team project come to fruition was "incredibly rewarding".

In the first three weeks of operation, the main puffin camera reached 90,700 views and the average watch-time is about five minutes.

There was an average of 25 people watching at any one time, the National Trust said.

The team said it intended to keep the stream going until at least the end of June.

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