Yorkshire Wildlife Trust is holding its annual puffin festival on Flamborough Cliffs on 13th and 14th May for a weekend of activities to celebrate and help protect one of the nation’s best-loved seabirds.
Puffins, also known as ‘sea parrots’, are one of our most recognisable birds. These quirky black and white birds have bright orange legs and webbed feet, with a chunky, colourful blue, red and yellow bill which is brightest at this time of year.
Spectacular Flamborough Cliffs nature reserve is one of the few places you can see puffins without taking a boat; just a short walk from the car park at North Landing. May is the perfect time to see these birds on the spectacular white cliffs at Flamborough, where they’ve returned after spending the winter at sea.
David Craven, East Regional Manager for Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, said:
“Watching puffins at Flamborough is one of the best wildlife watching spectacles in Yorkshire. It’s an experience that brings delight to so many people, we’re so lucky to have them – so what better way to celebrate them than with a weekend of activities with tours. These wonderful birds also need our help, through protection of their fishing grounds and food supply to their fragile marine habitat, we’ll be helping people to take action over the weekend too.”
The Yorkshire Puffin Festival, funded and supported by Yorkshire Coast BID, takes place at the Trust’s Flamborough Cliffs nature reserve and is packed full of puffin fun, including:
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An exclusive online launch event with Hannah Rudd, marine scientist, shark specialist and author of ‘Britain’s Living Seas: Our Coastal Wildlife and How We Can Save It’;
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Boat trips by traditional fishing coble to discover the rugged coastline and spot some of our seabirds from a different angle;
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Peering at puffins from the clifftop with our expert volunteers as part of a guided walk;
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A magical guided walk at dusk when we’ll be hoping to spot the reserve’s resident barn owls;
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A beach clean – help us look after our marine wildlife as well as our puffins;
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Puffin-themed crafts making a sock puffin with Thread and Press;
A puffin-themed drama workshop with Singing with Zoe;
A Yorkshire Puffin Contest to find Yorkshire’s best puffin performer, with a prize for the best entry.
Some activities including the boat trip require pre-booking, but there will be lots happening to drop-in or book on the day. The festival Puffin HQ will be based at North Landing to find out more, where parking and refreshments are also available.
Information is also available on Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s puffin festival www.ywt.org.uk/yorkshire-puffin-festival/plan-your-adventure packed with information about each event and activity, and details for booking.
The sea cliffs from Filey to Bridlington hosts Yorkshire’s ‘Seabird City’ and the largest mainland puffin – and seabird – colony in the UK. Here you will also find internationally important numbers of breeding seabirds including puffins, fulmars, herring gulls, kittiwakes, guillemots, razorbills for a brief period between May and August.
Globally, puffin populations are in decline. Although numbers on the Yorkshire coast have stayed reasonably steady at roughly 4,000, protected by our steep chalk cliffs, they are at risk from the effects of climate change on their main food source, sand eels. Attendees at the festival can learn more about the work Yorkshire Wildlife Trust is doing to look after our puffins, as well as what they can do to help protect them.
If you can’t get to the coast for the Yorkshire Puffin Festival, there’s plenty to enjoy online at ywt.org.uk/puffin-fest where you can also become a Puffin Protector. Download your free pack full of puffin facts, activities to do at home, advice on where to see them, puffin-themed gifts and competitions, and actions to protect puffins.
