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Puffin found 110 miles from home returned to wild

Gavin Kermack
BBC Hereford and Worcester
Joshua Pedley A black and white seabird with an orange striped beak sits in the sea. They are looking from right to left, surrounded by waterJoshua Pedley
Oona is thought to have come from a puffin colony in Pembrokeshire

A puffin that was found 110 miles (177km) inland in a garden in Herefordshire has been returned to the Welsh coast.

The seabird, named Oona by vets, was nearly half the weight she should be when she was discovered in June in Stoke Lacey near Hereford.

After being cared for at Vets for Pets Hereford, on Wednesday she was released into the sea at Martin's Haven, Pembrokeshire, to reunite with her suspected colony.

Vet Elliot Goodwin said he was "so proud" to see the puffin back in the wild, after she had been in such a bad way in strange circumstances so far from the coast.

Emma Jacobs/RSPCA A man bends down on a beach. He is tipping forward a cardboard RSPCA pet carrier box, and a puffin can be seen perching on the box lid, pointing towards the seaEmma Jacobs/RSPCA
The seabird was taken to Martin's Haven in Pembrokeshire

On the journey to Pembrokeshire she was kept in a cardboard carrier box, with an icepack wrapped in a towel to stop her getting too warm.

When they stopped to check on her, "she was nice and lively," said Jodie Manser, an RSPCA wildlife officer who was involved in the puffin's return.

To be able to see Oona at the point of release was a "privilege" and it had been "a real learning experience" for everyone, said Mr Goodwin.

It was nice to see her go back out to the wild after having got so lost in the first place, he added.

A man in a green coloured polo shirt is standing on a rocky shore. He is smiling at the camera, and behind him is a coastal headland, with sea to his left
Vet Elliot Goodwin, who treated Oona, said he was really happy to see her back on the coast

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