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Written by: admin

• Aldar
• Puffin
• Agata

Tens of thousands of Puffin chicks starve to death each year these days as the combined effects of industrial fishing of Sand Eels, the replacement of sand eels with Butter Fish due to climate change (Butter Fish are only a fraction as nutritious as Sand Eels so Puffins must work much harder to achieve the same levels of nutrition for their chick) and increased predation of key prey species by Mackerel - again likely driven by climate change. Puffins will abandon a chick if it is clear they will not succeed in raising it due to food shortage.

A sample from my forthcoming book - Puffin. A illustrated natural history of the clowns of the sea accompanied with the life story of just one Puffin.

Several days had gone by and the food situation had not improved, in fact both Aldar and Agata had now lost several catches to the gulls. To make things worse the shoals of sandeels closer to the shore had not reappeared, the new parents were just managing the 5 feeds a day needed at that point, but Aldar was worried.

Ten days later, returning from his latest hunting foray, Aldar breathed a sigh of relief as he sighted the white cliffs ahead. It had been a long flight, way too long, and, once again, he had barely had time to catch enough to feed himself and to bring a full beak-full back for the chick. Aldar also knew Agata was not managing to feed herself enough and he could see she was growing thinner each time he saw her, he himself had been forced to sacrifice his own feeding in order to return enough for the chick.

The distance to the fishing grounds and the difficulty finding the numbers of sand eels or sprats he needed, both to feed himself and take enough back for the chick, was already a huge challenge and he knew it only going to be even more difficult as the chick, and its voracious appetite, continued to grow.

He approached the cliff and could see the entrance to their burrow in the grassy area at the top. He dropped onto the small landing spot, as always only just hanging onto his load of fish as he stumbled forwards. He had not only dived up to 200 feet under the waves to find and catch them, he had evaded two attacks by gulls on the way back so he was not going to lose them now.

He took a couple of steps into the burrow and allowed himself a few moments for his eyes to adjust; already he could hear the excited, high pitched calls of the chick as it sensed his arrival. He met him – no name yet – halfway down the tunnel and could feel him pecking at the fish in his beak. He quickly released each fish when it was pecked and could hear the chick gobble it down whole. After providing a few fish in this way Aldar dropped the rest of the catch onto the tunnel floor and set off back to the entrance leaving the chick to hungrily snaffle the dropped fish.

Aldar could sense that the chick had been extremely hungry when he arrived and, although he knew it could last for many hours between feeds, he also knew that if it was to grow at the rate needed, he and Agata were going to need to make more successful trips each day than they were.

The sun was still fairly low in the sky as he emerged into the golden early morning daylight, looking anxiously around to check for any threats. He took a few precious moments to preen, to stretch his tired wings and prepare for another flight then, stepping towards the cliff edge, he launched himself into the still cool air. He corrected for the growing wind and set off again for the fishing grounds. He didn’t know whether he would see Agata today, they rarely saw each other since the chick had hatched as they never knew when the other would return with fish, but he hoped they might be both here at the nest at some point in the next day or so.

Although he was tired and hungry, barely having caught enough on the last trip, the journey out was uneventful. Arriving at the spot where he thought most likely to find the fish he desperately needed, he dropped down onto the sea and sat for a few moments simply relishing the familiar pleasure of being back on the open ocean. But time was pressing already, this fishing spot was a long distance from the nest and although he was a good flyer, his wings easily managing the 400 beats per minute needed to keep him airborne, he knew the flight was too long to be able to make enough trips each day.

Diving down below the surface his eyes quickly adjusted to the different density and lightscape of the water and set about finding his prey. Ducking, weaving and darting this way and that, he used both his wings and webbed feet to pursue and catch any small fish which came within sight. He loved the chase but right now he needed each attempt to be successful and short lived allowing him to rapidly fill the serrations on his beak with plump, nutritious morsels. He made dive after dive, each a little deeper until finally he was diving to his full range of 200 feet or so, in an effort to find the sand eels he knew should be there. Unfortunately, as on too many other occasions in the days since the chick had hatched, the prey simply was no longer present. He wondered if the huge ship he had seen had taken the whole shoal in its vast nets. He feared those nets, to get caught in them was certain death and he had seen them scoop up whole shoals of sprats and eels, along with the hapless hunting puffins, before now.

It was time to move on, wearily he launched himself into the air and set about the search for more fish. Only after some considerable time did he spot the tell tale signs of a new shoal and manage to feed himself and fill his beak for the journey back to the burrow; this was just not going to be good enough. He flew low and fast, sometimes even skimming the waves in order to try to stay hidden from the gulls which he knew would readily rob him of his prize. Eventually he made it back to the burrow in time to catch Agata there also.

He fed the chick in the usual way and then greeted her. They clicked beaks and with nodding heads, renewed the bond so newly formed this year. She looked tired, hungry and not the plump, sleek female he had courted amongst the rafting birds a few short weeks ago. She too had only just returned and had not even managed a full beak-full for the chick. It was clear that they were struggling to find enough food to feed their recently hatched chick.

Another week passed.

Hungry, tired and in increasingly poor condition Aldar had returned to the nest again with a beak full of sprats for the chick. Agata was not there and he knew he needed to set out immediately to fish again, unless something had miraculously changed it would be many hours before he returned.

The chick had pecked, almost angrily, at his load of fish, clearly hungry and he had released them into its gaping beak as fast as he could. He knew he and Agata were trying desperately to keep up the feeding regime but he also knew their firstborn was just not growing as it should, unless they could find more food more quickly they were in danger of starving themselves, but even as they did so failing to provide enough for the chick. Wearily he set off once more as the last rays of the dying day lit up the sky and the thin scattering of clouds with a blaze of fiery red. Aldar though had no time, nor indeed the energy, to admire the sunset

This time he found a fishing ground in the same place as last time but on returning to the colony he was unable, despite some desperate flying, to successfully evade the predatory attack of a herring gull. He was forced to make a second trip before he was able to return with a meal for the chick. When he did return he was immensely pleased to find Agata there also. Seeing her for the first time in a few days he was shocked at her appearance. She was getting terribly thin now and clearly weakening, her feathers were beginning to lose condition and Aldar knew this could be fatal as she needed the protection of that coat in order to stay dry, warm and to fish successfully.

They clicked beaks, but without the ambitious optimism of their first days together, this desperate shortage of prey together with the predations of the gulls was taking a terrible toll on them both. Their bond was stronger than ever but they were both fully aware that a dreadful decision was looming.

Without words they agreed to go on for one more day, neither wanted to make the heartbreaking decision they already knew in their hearts was inevitable.

The following day he managed 4 feeds but only by partially depriving himself of food. At one point he had spotted a brilliantly large shoal of sprats. Quickly settling on the sea and diving beneath the surface he was surprised not to be alone in hunting the fish but was instead surrounded by larger mackerel, many of them bigger than himself. There seemed to be an inexhaustible number of them and they jostled and hustled relentlessly. Every time Aldar targeted a sprat he had it snatched away at the last minute by the larger fish. Within minutes the shoal had either been consumed by the mackerel or had scattered so that they presented an almost impossible challenge for the weary puffin. He managed to catch one or two but nothing like sufficient to satisfy his own hunger, nor fill his beak for the chick. Once again he had to resume the search for a fresh fishing spot. Finally, after far too many hours, he returned to the nest with only a few fish for the chick and settled down to wait for Agata. He knew now that the decision they dreaded had to be made. In order to stay alive themselves they were going to have to leave for the deep Atlantic and leave the chick to starve.

Maybe next year they will be more successful.

Images and text copyright Steve Allanson 2023