Puffins have returned to Iceland, reports RÚV, with sightings recorded on April 10 off Grímsey and in Borgarfjörður Eystri.

One of Iceland’s traditional harbingers of spring, the birds were spotted by sisters Halla and Unnur Ingólfsdóttir in the cliffs south of the lighthouse in Grímsey. Around the same time, Björn Aðalsteinsson saw one at Hafnarhólmi islet in Borgarfjörður Eystri, in the Eastfjords.

Their arrival in early April is typical, as puffins are often seen returning to Iceland during the first weeks of the month.

“Puffins have been seen there as early as late March, if I remember correctly. They usually arrive earlier in Grímsey and in the east at Hafnarhólmi. There are relatively long-term records from those areas compared to here in the south, in the Westman Islands. We expect to see them in the Westman Islands next week,” says Erpur Snær Hansen, director of the South Iceland Nature Research Centre.

Snow has been melting in recent days due to warmer weather, so puffins should have no trouble accessing their burrows.

“They are not afraid of snow,” Erpur Snær adds. “They even nest under snow; I’ve seen them beneath a snow layer in June 2011. They simply stay in their burrows and dig their way through the snow. There was about a 10-centimetre layer.”

Severe storms have affected the southern North Atlantic, where part of Iceland’s seabird population winters. Earlier this spring, we reported that thousands of dead puffins had washed ashore along European coastlines. Erpur Snær believes this may impact breeding this spring.

“A portion of our seabirds spend the winter in that area. The entire Icelandic population moults there at this time, when these storms have been occurring. We are somewhat concerned that we may have lost some birds at sea during these conditions,” he says.