38-year-old puffin who was born in the Farne Islands is found dead in Scotland

A 38-year-old puffin who was born in the Farne Islands has been found dead in Scotland.

The bird was found by Kenny MacLean, who works for public body NatureScot, and his dog Angus on the Dunbar coast near Edinburgh on 22 March.

On a closer look, Kenny discovered that the puffin had a silver ring on its left leg.

Many birds are 'ringed' to keep track of population and gain a greater understanding of migration patterns.

Kenny took the puffin to his friend David Steel, who is a reserve manager at the nearby Isle of May Nature Reserve to find out more about the bird from the number on the ring.

The bird had been ringed on the West Wideopens, an island which is a part of the Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast as a chick on 29 June 1984.

The puffin was found on 22 March 2022 which means that it was 38-years-old.

Most puffins live between 30 and 35 years, and the oldest puffin, found in Norway, was 41-years-old.

Mr Steel, who worked as a reserve manager in the Farne Islands for 14 years, said: "It's wonderful that we can find out all this information from this bird tagging process.

"It has allowed us to find out this bird's age and how long it's lived for.

"They start breeding at the age of four and they lay eggs in March each year.

"This bird has been breeding for over 30 years and has probably raised lots of chicks."