A lost puffin is being assessed for release after being blown 110 miles inland from the coast of Pembrokeshire.
A local found the bird in her Hereford garden and quickly took her to Vets for Pets, where local practice manager Elliot Goodwin nursed her back to health. She was named Oona after the main character in the animated children’s TV programme Puffin Rock.
She was originally due to be released on Wednesday, but the vets had concerns over the waterproofing of her feathers.
“You have to be led by the animal in this sort of situation,” Mr Goodwin told The Independent. “I’m still hopeful that it will be quite a quick turn around and we're maybe talking days to weeks, rather than weeks to months.”
Mr Goodwin drove Oona to RSPCA West Hatch Wildlife Centre on Wednesday for specialist assessment and rehab accommodation.
“One of the issues with captive or rescue seabirds in rehabilitation is that they can end up with damage to the waterproofing on their feathers,” Mr Goodwin added.
“Even if we're keeping her completely clean, when we were starting to feed her on real food, fish and fish oils, rather than tube feeding into her stomach, she would flick the food around and wipe her beak on herself, that then meant her feather quality started to deteriorate.”
Although they could give her a bath in soapy water, they do not have the swimming pool-type facilities that the RSPCA West Hatch Wildlife Centre has for the bird to practice swimming and preening to check that the waterproofing is returning to full function.
RSPCA West Hatch Wildlife Centre said: “Huge thank you to the whole team at ‘Vets for Pets Hereford’ for your care towards this beautiful bird! An amazing example of what vets and local wildlife organisations can achieve.”
In terms of knowing when she’ll be ready to return to the wild, the signs they’ll be looking out for are beads of water forming on top and running off her feathers so she stays dry, making sure she’s floating when she’s out in the pool and putting on a bit more weight, Mr Goodwin explained.
Vets for Pets staff were initially sceptical that Oona was really a puffin before they saw her, since the seabirds rarely venture inland and Hereford is about 110 miles from their nearest coastal nesting area.
“We were very sceptical, didn’t believe it,” Mr Goodwin said. “When the lovely client arrived in the practice, we opened up the box... and realised, actually, this definitely is a puffin!”
They realised she was likely blown off from a nest on Skomer or Skokholm islands off the Welsh coast.
“It was a bit crazy because we're pretty far inland, it's not a normal sort of thing at all,” Mr Goodwin added.
Puffins typically fly and nest in small groups, so being alone is often a sign they need urgent veterinary care.
Oona was underweight and weak when she arrived, but has thrived since staff began feeding her a special formula from animal nutritionist Becky Bridges, and eventually fish.
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