Great news for the Lundy Island puffins
Lundy Island is undoubtedly a super day out for visitors who want to make the most of the local surrounding while on vacation in the area. Visitors who are staying in holiday cottages near Ilfracombe are often drawn to the three and a half mile outcrop’s untouched scenery and captivating collection of wildlife. An interesting fact you may not know about Lundy Island is that the word Lundy translates to ‘Puffin Island’ in Old Norse, and thankfully now after about 40 years of nonexistence the rising population of the puffin means the translation can once again ring true. Numbers of the beautiful bird have increased by an impressive third, from 180 last season to 240 this season, after work to eliminate rats marauding the nests worked out in favour of the puffins. Beccy MacDonald, Island Warden, said: "It's brilliant and this year you couldn't move for puffins. "Everyone still gets really excited when you see the Lundy puffins returning each year. "It really was pretty dire at one point, with just a few on one point of the island at Jenny's Cove, but now that area has just gone mad, and puffins are now moving to the north of the island too." A record which dates as far back as 1939 said there were once greater than 3,500 pairs on the island, but that population was entirely wiped out by more than 40,000 rats. After a £50,000 campaign to remove the rodents in 2002 and 2003, 80 breeding Puffins started the season last year. Puffins arrive on Lundy from mid-March to nest, before leaving around August, so don’t miss the chance to see these wonderful birds one last time this year.
