The Isle of May has seen its puffins numbers increase by around a third since 2017.
Home to one of the UK’s largest colonies, the habitat has been monitored by NatureScot and the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), released their findings last week.
Based on their all-island count this summer, scientists estimate there are about 52,000 occupied puffin burrows, compared to 39,000 in the last survey in 2017, showing a 33 per cent increase.
However scientists and field workers on the island remain concerned about the ongoing impact of food supplies and climate change on populations.
The Isle of May is home to about 100,000 puffins as well as tens of thousands of other birds including shags, guillemots, razorbills and kittiwakes.
The Forth island, which is a protected and internationally important habitat for seabirds, can be explored via boat trips from the Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick between April and September.
Field workers carried out the count by sweeping back and forth across the whole island counting each hole in the ground and assessing whether it is excavated by a puffin or rabbit. A sample of plots are then checked carefully to determine whether they are currently occupied by puffins and this correction factor is applied to the whole island count.
UKCEH has been observing colonies on the Isle of May for 50 years, and its long-term research has shown that the species have struggled with the impacts of climate change.
Rising ocean temperatures can reduce the availability of puffins’ food sources, particularly sand eels, which affects their survival rates and ability to produce offspring. In addition, periods of heavy storms in recent years have killed large numbers of birds.
However, there is no evidence that bird flu has been a problem with puffins on the island.
David Steel, NatureScot’s Isle of May National Nature Reserve manager, said: “People come from all over the world to see the iconic Isle of May puffins so it’s fantastic news the population of these brilliant and hardy birds has increased.
“Seabirds across the UK are facing multiple challenges, including marine heatwaves, climate change and of course in recent years for some species, bird flu, so we’re delighted with this news.
“We will be monitoring these birds closely as the summer progresses and hope they continue to have a good year.”
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