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The Farne Islands are off the coast of northeast England and are home to a huge seabird colony. The islands are owned and protected by the British conservation charity, the National Trust, which says the islands host some 23 species of seabird, as well as a substantial colony of grey seals, who come to have their pups there in the autumn. Every five years the National Trust carries out a census of the islands’ population of puffins, and this year’s survey showed there were almost 40,000 nesting pairs on the islands – an 8 percent rise from 2008. -Thea Breite ( 18 photos )

Rangers remove a puffin from its burrow on the Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast, northern England on May 15. (Nigel Roddis/Reuters)