Yorkshire puffin back into the wild

A puffin that was blown hundreds of miles off course is finally being released back into the wild after it was rescued from a London canal.
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The fish-eating sea bird ended up in a grotty Brentford canal in west London, after strong winds him far away from his closest breeding grounds in Bempton near Hull.

The Atlantic Puffin was taken to the Shepperton Swan Sanctuary in Surrey after his rescue last week, and now is strong enough to be released back into the wild.

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Dot Beeson, founder of the Swan Sanctuary, said: “We rested him, fed him and transferred him to a sea bird specialist in Dorset.

“The lady he has gone to has another one there and there is colony of them off Dorset.

“A lot of them blew off course in the windy weather, but this guy ended up farthest from home.

“It is not a bird you see very much even on our coastline.

“He was a bit underweight, but he’s fine now.

“He was a youngster from last year and may have experienced feeding problems, but now he is doing fine.”

Bempton is a famed breeding ground for puffins, with thousands of visitors travelling to East Yorkshire every year to see the distinctive birds in flight.