WHILE I was on the coastline of Cumbria I went to study the seabirds on the headland at St Bees and from which the Isle of Man can clearly be seen.

The family of birds called the auks have always fascinated me and I have studied them closely for more than 35 years. My favourite is the colourful puffin.

In the 1970s the puffin population in Britain was declining rapidly and some pessimists suggested the bird would become close to extinction by the year 2000. I was one of the many people who went out onto the breeding cliffs and islands to count the puffins. I’m glad to say puffins cannot read and they decided not to become extinct. Over the last few years the population has increased dramatically, which is exciting because they really are beautiful.

They stand only eight inches (20 centimetres) high and really do look like mini-parrots. They are the only British bird which moults its bill after the end of the breeding season and their food consists of small fish which they catch by diving under the sea. When they are feeding their single youngster, each parent can carry as many as 30 small fish sticking out of the bill.

The puffin’s egg is white and it does not need to be camouflaged because it incubates in a burrow which the puffin either burrows itself, or it chases out a resident rabbit.

Puffins may look beautiful, but they are tough customers more than capable of looking after themselves.