Kids patrol to help lost puffins

Puffin patrol helps lost birds

Children in Iceland are helping to make sure that young puffins that lose their way don't stay lost forever.

When they're old enough the young puffins, or pufflings as they're called, have to fly off to find food.

The problem is that they can get a bit confused by the lights of nearby towns and end up in back gardens and car parks instead of where they mean to be.

Fortunately kids are on hand to help out, and when the puffin patrol find a lost bird they take it to the vets.

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The puffin patrol are busy when it's dark

Once the vet is convinced the pufflings are OK they take them to the beach to be released.

There are fewer bright lights there to confuse the birds, and they can have another go at tracking down a bite to eat.

Children have been staying up late to take part in puffin patrols for many years on the Westman Islands.

This puffin is about to be released

The largest puffin colony in the world lives there, with 10 million of the birds making their nest on the Islands.

One child said his grandfather had also helped to rescue the lost creatures, and once saved 500 of them in a single night.