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Lily Ford PA & Daniel Hall

New webcam to give window into lives of puffins on island off Northumberland coast

A webcam has been installed inside a custom-made puffin burrow on a Northumberland island offering a glimpse into the nest of two parent birds.

Coquet Island, referred to as RSPB's "certified seabird sanctuary" is half a mile from the village of Amble off the Northumberland Coast and as many as 35,000 seabirds cram onto the tiny island to breed. Though there's a lighthouse on it, the public are not permitted to step foot onto it.

Currently, there are four live cameras switched on to allow for the surveillance of the birds. Those watching can expect to catch a chick hatching from the egg that the parents laid on April 25, which they regularly take turns to sit on.

Read more: Puffin returned to The Farne Islands after RSPCA finds him stranded on Northumberland beach

The egg is expected to hatch around May 31. Puffins mate for life and both the male and female help to incubate the egg and raise the chick once it hatches.

The parents will continue to take care of the chick until it develops wing feathers that are large enough for flight. The stream will run from May 4 until the puffins leave in July or August.

Undated handout photo issued by the RSPB of Coquet Island RSPB reserve (David Wootton/RSPB/PA Wire)

Where have you seen puffins off the Northumberland Coast? Let us know in the comments below!

Puffins spend two-thirds of their lives bobbing on the ocean in groups called rafts and only come on land to breed. Around 10% of the world's puffins are found in the UK, but numbers are declining and they are now on the Red List of UK Birds of Conservation Concern and are listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

Undated handout grab from a webcam issued by the RSPB of a puffin on Coquet Island RSPB reserve (RSPB/PA Wire)

As well as Coquet Island, there is a colony of puffins on the Farne Islands. To watch the stream, click here.

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