A group of young puffins blown ashore in Brean and other parts of the south west during February’s storms are back home after the RSPCA released the birds off the north coast of Devon.
The three juvenile puffins, who were among an influx of 40 seabirds rescued by the RSPCA during the winter storms, have taken a journey across to Lundy Island following two months rehabilitation, rest and recuperation at the West Hatch Wildlife Centre near Taunton.
Wildlife supervisor at RSPCA West Hatch Paul Oaten said: “The puffins were young and exhausted when they came in to us a couple of months ago but they have made wonderful progress. They have been fed a diet of sprats and are now all ready to go back.”
“We’ve had more than the usual amount of storm blown birds in to the centre so far because of the severe weather we experienced at the beginning of the year but puffins are one of the more unusual ones. The puffins were just completely worn out by the stormy weather. It was lucky members of the public spotted them at their various locations.”
They were found dotted along the south west shoreline. One bird was found by a member of the public huddling for shelter under a caravan at Brean Sands Caravan Park, as we reported here in February.
Atlantic puffins aren’t usual visitors to the beaches of Somerset. As well as the puffins, RSPCA West Hatch has been inundated with other storm blown birds such as guillemots, kittiwakes, gannets and razor bills, coming in from across the region.
