I've just visited one of England's most beautiful islands and it barely gets any tourists

Let me start by telling you three fascinating facts about puffins. First, they live for around 20 years – and the oldest recorded puffin made it to an astonishing 36 years old. Second, despite their dumpy, cartoonish charm, they’re actually feisty little speed demons of the sky, reaching 55mph as they soar, duck and dive for food in icy seas.

And third – my absolute favourite – they mate for life. Amazingly, no one knows quite how they find each other again after a harsh winter alone at sea in a flock of thousands. But they do: returning to the same partner to tap beaks together in a gentle, kissing ritual that reaffirms their bond.

How can anyone not fall in love with a bird like that? The National Trust certainly has – hook, line and sinker. But there are storms on the horizon for the puffin, which, like many sea birds, is classed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), meaning they face a high risk of extinction in the wild. Their numbers are declining globally, with some populations facing significant pressures.

Over on the Farne Islands, a group of 28 islets just off the coast of Northumberland, the conservation charity is a fierce defender of not just the thousands of adorable puffins but also the other seabirds and wildlife. The Trust took ownership of the Islands from the Farne Islands Association (FIA) on August 10, 1925 – making this year its centenary of careful stewardship.

My journey to find out more about their work begins, like all stories worth telling at the pub, on a boat. My fellow budding seafarers, a collection of reporters, photographers and film crews, met in the beautiful fishing village of Seahouses before being packed onto a little vessel to head over to the island – Inner Farne – in thick-as-soup fog.

I was concerned the heavy weather would mean that we wouldn’t get to catch a glimpse of the puffins. But more or less as soon as we set sail, I let out a squeal as I spot one of the podgy, diminutive birds diving into the waves to catch their lunch.

And as we edge closer to the cliffs, I can see they’re absolutely packed with a huge range of seabirds, all 200,000 of them eyeing us suspiciously as we near the dock.

“It’s not so bad today,” says a fellow journalist for a local title who makes the trip out every time he gets the chance. “What’s not so…”, I start to say. But before I can finish my sentence, it hits me. A smell so pungent it claws at the back of your throat – an aroma I can only describe as a dog parlour that’s not seen disinfectant for a decade.

We dock after 15 minutes or so and are met by a group of enthusiastic rangers who are ready to show us exactly what they do to help preserve the Farne’s seabird population, including conducting the island’s now annual puffin census.

Sophia Jackson, area ranger on the Farne Islands for the National Trust, explains: “Last year in 2024 we did the first full count in five years. This is because from 2019 we had Covid, then bird flu – there was a lot that stopped a full count on the islands.”

Sophia explained that last year the number of puffins effectively went up – to 50,000 pairs, rising some 15% – but that they are cautious to be too celebratory about the figure because full counts haven’t been taking place as often as they would have liked.

“That’s why we’re now trying to do a puffin count every single year [up from every five] to get a true idea about what’s going on,” she continues.

This is crucial as although the numbers seem more or less static on the island, internationally they’re rapidly diminishing. “They are an endangered species. Most colonies around the UK are in decline which is why we’re so tentative about our 15% increase. Puffins only come to breed on land.

“The rest of the year, they are out at sea. If you imagine this tiny little dumpy bird bobbing around at sea due to increasing storms due to climate change – climate change causing huge winter storms is a trouble for them. But you’ve also got climate change pushing where their food is away.”

Warming seas means puffins may have to fly further to find food, leaving them exhausted and, potentially, their pufflings abandoned.

Sophia also explains that whilst on the island the puffins and their, wait for it, baby pufflings chow down on sandeels. In one measure designed to protect struggling seabirds, the UK has implemented a ban on sandeel fishing in both English and Scottish waters, which went into effect in March 2024.

So what is it which makes puffins so universally adored?

“I think everyone has a special place for puffins,” smiles Sophia. “There’s something about them. It’s their little characteristic faces and their behaviours. You can see their behaviour as they walk around the meadow – slow bobbing up and down, the little beak tapping they do – and they’re just so dumpy but such, like, a powerful little creature.

“The way they survive winter, dig burrows into the ground. I definitely have a huge soft spot for them.”

As well as counting the puffins, another way the Trust looks to conserve the birds is by ringing them – helping to identify the birds and learn more about their yearly adventures. We are invited to watch Tom Hendry, also an area ranger, put the rightly quite indignant puffins through their paces via the ringing method.

Out on the meadow, he sticks his arm into a burrow right up to his shoulder. They are then carefully plucked out and put into a cotton bag before a ring is placed around their ankle, as a cute foot flaps about. It doesn’t end there. After their wings and beaks are measured, they are placed headfirst into an empty jug – which protects their wings so they can be weighed.

Tom explained how they can determine the puffin’s sex.

“You can’t confirm 100% if it’s male or female by measuring the wing or the beak,” he says. “But the females tend to be a bit smaller and it’s just kind of good to get a bit of a sense of these things.”

So how does this process help in the fight to protect them?

“Despite puffins spending much of their time ‘rafting’ out at sea, ringing them will help us to understand more about the individuals as we’ll be able to follow them over several years, as well as how long they live and how far they travel to other colonies,” says Tom.

Farne Islands Association Committee member Dr Richard Bevan is one of those who is absolutely central to the conservation efforts hereabouts.

However, Dr Bevan isn’t just obsessed with the puffins, and is quite forthright in flying the flag for the astonishing 23 species of birds as well as his beloved seals. He has a special place in his heart for the terns, another seabird.

“You get that pair bonding [in puffins] and it’s true of most of the seabirds,” he tells me.

“The terns – they certainly mate for life! Terns come back [each year] to the same square metre and will wait for their partner. Terns have flown to Antarctica and come back to the same spot.”

But if it all goes wrong, he adds with a laugh, that they do have a back up plan. “If their partner doesn’t turn up then they will go off with someone else!”

As for other birds, ‘Stevie’ the gannet has gained a bit of a celebrity status on the island. He’s returned this year to the very same spot on the cliff edge – alone. He’s the only gannet on the island. Another couple of high profile birds are a pair of shags: Shagatha, at least 16 years old, and her partner Cliffty. On our trip we spot her carefully protecting two chicks on her nest, that the couple return to each year. Amazing.

The Farne Islands have been visited throughout their history and admission prices are £12 per adult and £7.50 per child, with a family ticket also available.

Today a boardwalk helps visitors navigate their way around the islands and keeping them to a path helps protect breeding seabirds from disturbance.

So is it worth the trip? Well, you may leave with a dollop of good luck on your jacket and a less-than-rosy aroma burning your nostrils, but you’ll also leave with something else: respect for the birds that are fighting to survive and the people tirelessly helping them to do just that.