At the end of May, the grass of the British Farne Islands gradually flourished,
Fourteen people came here to do what was probably the most primitive statistical work in Britain.
I saw them lying on the grass full of flowers, finding a dirt pit, and bravely reaching into it to grope.
A little scary? It doesn't matter, they know the results,
Either you can touch a puffin egg, or you can touch a puffin baby, and if you are unlucky enough to touch the puffin dung, you may not touch anything.
Or, touching two angry little mouths, it's Puffin Mom and Dad protesting that their home has been trespassed.
"They'll often peck you a little." Harriet Reid, a fellow at the National Trust, smiled and said,
"I have several scars on my hands... It does hurt, but I'm used to it. ”
Reed leads puffin counting jobs in the Farne Islands, which for many should be the loveliest job in the UK.
Puffins on the Farne Islands, also known as Arctic puffins, are rare birds of the United Kingdom.
With its chic shape, a slightly aggrieved eyes, a large beak and bright colors, coupled with its clumsy and funny movements, it is one of the most beloved birds of the British.
Anyone who has seen puffin walking will have a hard time forgetting its cute, cartoon-like gait, accompanied by a "crackling" sound in their heads.
On land, puffins walk like kindergarten children...
(Netizen P figure)
On the surface of the sea, it proved that it was indeed a seabird and could dance "water ballet"...
Occasionally, puffins run in a hurry, and their posture will be like a child who has not done homework for three days and is chased and beaten by his mother.
On the Northumberland coast, people named this bird "Silly Tommy," which, well, looks a bit silly.
Every year from April to July, puffins living in the Atlantic Ocean fly to the Farne Islands off the coast of Northumberland to breed, the largest breeding ground for puffins in the UK.
Puffins have a much-like family life with humans, they are monogamous animals, and after finding the love bird of their dreams on the island, they dig pits in the grass to build a nest.
Their pits can be a meter deep, in the shape of an inverted Y, and the room at the bottom is a toilet for, and the other is a living room for eating fish, incubating eggs, and taking care of babies.
Puffins are very concerned about the quality of life, they often take grass roots, leaves, seaweed and feathers to decorate the home, decorating the home comfortably.
Their children are also well-bred, giving birth to only one a year, and not letting the baby out of the nest until the baby's feathers are full.
(Puffin Baby)
After raising them in August, the puffin couple took the baby puffins to the sea, spending the long winter at sea, and their beaks changed from orange to gray.
In April of the following year, the puffins reunite in the Farne Islands for a new round of mating, while the baby puffins return five years later in search of a partner of their choice.
Puffin life is very interesting, and in order to protect them, the National Trust has sent people every five years to do a "bird's mouth census" of puffins in the Farne Islands since 1969.
Since 2018, the Toriguchi Census has become an annual one, as puffin populations are declining worldwide, much to the researchers' concern.
"Extreme weather can affect puffin populations. For example, we found that more winter storms lead to higher death rates for puffins. It also causes fewer puffins to return to the island to breed. Researcher Harriet Reid said.
"The warming waters force the puffins, their main food, the sand eels, to swim to the northern seas in search of cooler waters. This makes puffin fishing more difficult. ”
Seals and rabbits also need to be wary of puffins in the Farne Islands, where the former encroaches on their holes (puffins return to holes they dug earlier every year, as if they had a title deed), and the latter eats them.
The sparse vegetation also endangers puffin survival because they only dig holes in the meadows.
"Puffins can't build nests on bare land, which exposes them to predators such as seagulls." So we sowed a lot of seeds to plant grass. ”
In 2018, researchers counted 42,474 pairs of puffins on the Farne Islands.
In 2019 there were 42378 pairs,
In 2020, it plummeted to 29,546 pairs, compared to 36,211 pairs last year.
Puffin populations have fallen by 14.7 percent in four years, a worrying trend.
But Reid said there was no need to be too nervous because they hadn't counted puffins on all the islands during the pandemic, and the actual decline rate wasn't that high.
Moreover, this is only short-term data, compared to puffin numbers in the 1990s, and it is still within a reasonable range.
This year's bird's mouth census is the most complete since the epidemic, and Reed led people to wade through mountains and waters, burrow in the grass, and watch birds on boats.
It was hard work, but it was a lot of fun to do, and they even watched puffin fights with relish.
"They're really cute animals." Richard Bevan, the zoologist on the team, said,
"They're always noisy, and sometimes they fight. Birds from around will come together to see the liveliness. Even as a scientist, you think... 'Ah, they're so cute!' ’ ”
At present, Reed's team is still counting birds. Because rangers and tourists are fewer during the outbreak, they estimate that seagulls will become more numerous and more daring, so the number of puffins will decline slightly this year.
It's puffin breeding season, and the Farne Islands are as lively as ever.
Puffins can live to be 20 years old, and many of these birds may know them and are indifferent to the annual checks.
2022 is the fifth year of determining the bird number trend cycle, and I hope that researchers can get the desired results.
The vitality of the island comes from these ugly and ugly birds,
Who wouldn't want to watch them continue to twitter and live in peace...