Lundy Puffin population on the rise

Lundy Island is one of the most popular, if not THE most popular, days out on the North Devon coast. Visitors on their caravan holidays in Devon are drawn to the three and a half mile outcrop's unspoilt scenery and fascinating array of wildlife.

If you didn't know already, Lundy translates to 'puffin island' in Old Norse, and after around 40 years of nonexistence the rising population of the puffin means the translation can once again ring true.

Numbers of the bird have increased by a third, from 180 last season to 240 this season, after work to eradicate rats raiding the nests.

Beccy MacDonald, Island Warden, said: "It's brilliant and this year you couldn't move for puffins.

"Everyone still gets really excited when you see the Lundy puffins returning each year.

"It really was pretty dire at one point, with just a few on one point of the island at Jenny's Cove, but now that area has just gone mad, and puffins are now moving to the north of the island too."

A record dating all the way back to 1939 said there were once more than 3,500 pairs on the island, but that population was entirely wiped out by more than 40,000 rats. After a £50,000 campaign to remove the rodents in 2002 and 2003, 80 breeding Puffins started the season last year, with the number now at 240 this year.

Puffins come to Lundy from mid-March to nest, before leaving around August, so if you're staying our Devon caravan parks this week, get yourselves over for the final chance to see these wonderful birds.