Four rare puffins spotted at Dancing Ledge

Photographer Martin Shaw, part of the Bournemouth Echo’s Camera Club, spotted four puffins resting on the famous Dorset coastal beauty spot The Dancing Ledge.

Puffin populations have been declining in Dorset and it is said that its coastline is one of the last nesting places for puffins in southern England.

Shaw told the Echo that he saw the birds ‘taking timeout for a conflab on the cliff edge’ and decided to capture the image. 

The best time to spot the unique birds in Dorset is between March and August; however, this sighting is still said to be fairly early.

It is rumoured that only 2 pairs of nesting puffins are left in the county; the Dorset Wildlife Trust believes that the Purbeck colony is the most easterly and likely the smallest puffin colony in England.