Become part of the Puffarazzi
Project puffin needs your help this summer!
Bob Cooper
We need you to take photos of puffins with food in their bills and submit them to us. It will help us learn more about what puffins eat. If you fancy being part of our Puffarazzi team, get snapping today!
Neil Phillips
Follow these three simple steps to take part in the project:
Step 1: get ready
Pick a puffin colony to visit:
Take a look at the map and pick a colony to visit. For beginners we recommend RSPB Dunnet Head, RSPB South Stack, RSPB Bempton Cliffs, RSPB Sumburgh Head, Farne Islands (National Trust), Isle of May (SNH) and Skomer (Wildlife Trust).
Puffins can be very sensitive to disturbance so please follow our puffin-friendly photography guidelines. Avoid getting too close to a puffin or spending too long taking your photo. Keep your movements and noise to a minimum. Watch where you are walking and never walk over a puffin burrow and do not put yourself at risk to get a photograph.
Step 2: take part
Visit a puffin colony between early June and late July. They won't be carrying fish at any other time
Find a puffin carrying fish in its beak. We know puffins are gorgeous birds and any picture of a puffin is special, but for this research we just need to see the fish in the puffins' bill
Prepare your camera and snap. The easiest photo is one of a puffin that has landed
Make a note of the date, time and location of your photo. We need to know so we can use it in our project.
Antony Wren
Step 3: submit your photo online here
Once you've got your images, please submit them on the project puffin website.
We'll ask you to leave us your contact details so that our project puffin science team can get back to you about what species of fish they think your puffin was carrying.
For more details go to the RSPB website: http://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/conservation/project-puffin/index.aspx
Howard Vaughan, Information Officer