http://explore.org/live-cams/player/puffin-burrow-cam
If you have no idea what a puffin is, getting cracking and get over to this website: they'll steal your heart
I've been watching this pair of puffins for the past three years and was ecstatic that they returned to their burrow again this year and began incubating an egg this past Saturday (the Burrow Cam just went live this afternoon). Finn (female) and Phoebe (male) -- their genders were not known as they weren't banded until late last season and were named by website followers a few years earlier so, oops! -- have hatched three pufflings, one each year, and successfully raised two to fledge, Hope in 2013 and Pal in 2014. Poor little Petey died in 2012 as the type of fish needed to sustain a puffling was simply too scarce.
The Burrow Cam is wonderful, allowing us to watch the pair incubate the egg, watch the egg hatch, watch Mom and Dad nurture the puffling, cuddling it and bringing fish. Fledging is heartbreaking because we've grown to love the little puffling but is also uplifting because another puffin is on its way to sea; an endangered species, puffin numbers are falling worldwide so a successful fledge is something to be celebrated.
There are two other cameras on Seal Island: the Puffin Loafing Ledge Cam (a real hoot to watch them just hanging out with razorbills) and the Boulder Berm Cam which focuses on the exterior of the burrows.
C'mon, give the puffins a look-see --- you'll love 'em!
