Puffins Spotted On The Farne Islands As Visitors Are Welcomed for Spring
By Jill Dando News
Inner Farne, one of the Farne Islands cared for by the National Trust, has re-opened for visitors to enjoy the annual spectacle of seabirds returning to breed, with the first puffins spotted back on the islands.
2025 marks 100 years of the 28-island archipelago being in the Trust’s care, and from the 1st April visitor boats will be landing on the Farne Islands in time for the start of the breeding season, with bookings now open with boat trip operators.
Sanctuary for seabirds
The Farne Islands are a National Nature Reserve and are an internationally important home to approximately 200,000 seabirds, including the charismatic puffin, Arctic terns, and kittiwakes.
The birds return to the islands in the spring, departing once their chicks are fully fledged, at the end of the summer.
Laura Knowles, Visitor Operations and Experience Manager for the National Trust, says: 'We’re excited to announce that Inner Farne has reopened for visitor landings today, and just in time, the first puffins have arrived back onto the islands.
'This is an exciting year for us as we celebrate the centenary of the Farne Islands coming into the care of the National Trust and we can’t wait to welcome visitors and to share the wonderful wildlife of the island up close once more.
'Sail around tours will also continue to be available for those visitors that want to experience the magic of the islands from the water.'
The seabirds returning to the islands and those that live there all the year round, remained free of bird flu in 2024, after being hit hard by the disease in 2022 and 2023, when rangers collected nearly 10,000 dead birds (6,000, and 3,647 in the respective years), giving some hope that immunity is building within the colony.
Sophia Jackson, Area Ranger for the National Trust on the Farne Islands, says: 'We have been closely monitoring the impact of the disease on our breeding populations as part of international research into bird flu.
'This has shown that the disease has had devastating impacts on some species and at some UK sites making our conservation efforts all the more important.'
Celebrating centenary year
The Farne Islands were vested into the care of the National Trust on 10 August 1925, and have been cared for by the conservation charity’s staff, partners and volunteers for the last 100 years.
The National Trust will be marking this milestone with a series of events throughout the year which will reflect the inherent links the Farne Islands have with the local community as well as the cultural, environmental and scientific impact this unique place has regionally, nationally and globally.
As well as the fascinating wildlife, visitors will also be able to get closer to the cultural history on the island, which has links with early Christianity and St Cuthbert, with access inside the beautiful St Cuthbert’s Chapel and exterior views of the Inner Farne lighthouse and the Pele Tower.
Inner Farne will be the only island to open to visitor landings this year. On arrival on the harbour at Seahouses, visitors booked onto a boat trip are asked to visit the National Trust admissions point to purchase a landing ticket or to show their membership cards.
William Shiel, from Billy Shiel’s Boat Trips, one of the companies that takes visitors across to the Farne Islands said: 'This Winter has been a fantastic pupping season for the seals and now that we're in spring I've already seen large rafts of puffins on the water, whilst transporting the National Trust Rangers to and from the islands.
'This is a very promising sign so early in the season. With the weather having been favourable so far too (long may it last!) it's shaping up to be another prolific season for the wildlife out at the Farnes. I'm excited to see how the nesting season progresses.'
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