Puffin cam goes live 2026

With the return of the puffins to the Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast, the National Trust has once again switched on its webcams for everyone to watch the puffins live.

The cameras offer viewers a front row seat to the everyday lives of the puffins as the breeding season starts. Another species you can watch on the live camera feeds will be the guillemots. With a camera trained to capture their activities on the cliffs where they roost and nest.

The Farne Islands is an internationally important National Nature Reserve off the Northumberland coast. They are home to around 200,000 seabirds, including puffins, Arctic terns, guillemots and kittiwakes.

The islands, and the birds which return to breed each spring, have been cared for by the National Trust for over 100 years and have just re opened for the season with visitor boats now landing on the island, offering the public the chance to experience one of the UK’s most spectacular wildlife gatherings.

The breeding season is always a special time of year as the ranger teams monitor the birds daily over the spring and summer months.

Last year the live cams attracted over a quarter of a million views, and viewers sent in messages from all over the world.

In 2022 rangers recorded over 6,000 dead birds, and more than 3,500 in 2023. Comparing that to fewer than ten in 2025 suggests things may be improving.

Rangers will be completing their annual seabird counts in June, which will also help to understand the impact of the recent winter storms. They will also be keeping an eye out for puffins that were fitted with blue colour rings last year as part of its colour ringing programme to better understand puffin survival and movement. They are also encouraging viewers to look out for them on the webcams and if they come to the islands to visit, as it will helps assess survival rates and track how the birds are faring year to year.

In June the puffins will be going on a mini tour of city centres through the National Trust’s Window to the Wild project. Making appearances in city centres including Newcastle, Cardiff, Birmingham, Manchester, Belfast and Bristol as part of the Festival of Nature.

The puffin webcam link:
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/farne-islands-webcam

For more information on planning a visit to the Farne Islands visit:
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/farne-islands

Photograph: National Trust