Young puffin fledging, video

Wildlife Extra writes about this video:

Pufflings; rare footage captured in Alderney

Living Islands live: a Puffin Season on Burhou

July 2013. After five years of trying, real-life, live footage of the actual fledgling walk of a Puffling has been captured for the first time and shared with the world to see by Alderney Wildlife Trust (AWT).

Notoriously shy
Pufflings are notoriously shy, and footage which captures the first long waddle out to sea by a fledgling chick is extremely rare. The team behind the unique LIVE broadcast continual live footage of the Puffins of Burhou, a small island one mile north-west of Alderney, has confirmed it is definitely the first time footage has been captured in the region.

The magic moment as one of the Pufflings from the colony, the largest in the Channel Islands and British Channel, makes its hesitant journey to float off on the tide into open water and into its first flight.

Recent pollutant disaster
AWT Manager Roland Gauvain said: “After 5 years of trying we have finally captured an event on camera which few people can ever hope to see in real life. The nocturnal march of a Puffling is special moment, brought into stark focus after the recent disaster of seeing an estimated 8,000 to 12,000 seabirds killed by the pollutant PIB just a 60miles from this colony.”

See the LIVE Puffincam here.

The Pufflings were known to have started hatching on the May 26, when keen LIVE watchers alerted the team as the first Puffin returned to its burrow, carrying fish for its newly emerged chick.

After six weeks of dedication from their parents the Pufflings have now grown large enough to be taking steps towards fledging.

Cameras on Burhou will continue to follow the remaining adult Puffins and also switch to filming the Channel Islands only breeding colony of the incredibly secretive and nocturnal Storm Petrel at night.

If further sponsorship can be found the team will also carry out a trial to setup a new ‘GannetCam’ on one of Alderney’s two Northern Gannetries which are home to more than 2.5 per cent of the world’s population of this spectacular seabird.

Britain’s puffins at risk due to climate change: here.

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