Puffin watch returns for new season

Saturday 20 May 2023

'Puffin' to do this weekend? Grab your binoculars, because the first ‘Puffin Watch’ of the season will be taking place.

Organised by the National Trust for Jersey, the first Puffin Watch will be held at Plemont this Sunday 21 May between 10:00 and 12:00.

The event will be hosted by members of Birding Tours Jersey and Birds on the Edge, and it will be situated at the viewing point along the new upper footpath between the top car park and the German bunker.

Islanders will also be invited to look out for other endangered bird species such as razorbills, fulmars, kestrels, swifts, ravens, and peregrines

There is no need to book, and all are welcome to attend.

Cris Sellarés, project officer for Birds on the Edge, said: "We do these watches because we want people to see these endangered birds, which are increasingly rare. We want to show islanders how to look for them and identify them too, and there will be binoculars available."

She added: "Puffin watching is not easy, because there are not many these days. Since we began the watches four years ago, we have seen four mating pairs – that's only eight puffins.

"However, as the records show, several hundred years ago, you would see five or six hundred puffins between Plémont and Grève de Lecq."

Pictured: Cris Sellares, project officer for Birds on the Edge. (Rob Currie)

Ms Sellarés added: "They are very difficult to spot, because they don't hang around on the ground but they float just above the water. But a lot of people have seen their first puffin with us."

The Birds on the Edge partnership is currently seeking to install a mile of fencing along the coastline to protect puffins, their eggs and chicks from predators such as rats and ferrets, with Ms Sellarés saying there was a real risk that the island would lose its iconic seabird unless urgent action was taken.

Pictured top: The puffin sculptures at Plemont. (Jon Guegan)