AT this time of year the chalk cliffs at Flamborough are alive with the sound of nesting seabirds.

Among them are puffins. With their ungainly black and white bodies, orange feet, and brilliant beaks, they're a favourite with bird-lovers.

But Yorkshire's puffins are under threat - from climate change.

"Puffins return to Flamborough every year to raise their young, but the climate crisis is putting our Yorkshire born and bred puffins at risk," said a spokesperson for the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.

"Rising sea temperatures are pushing sand eels, their main food source, further north in search of cooler waters - forcing our puffins to make longer and more arduous journeys. Every summer, more puffin nests fail and fewer pufflings fledge."

The Yorkshire puffin colony is 'hanging on', the YWT says. "But it is becoming harder for them to find food and they are having to travel much further to do so."

So worried is the wildlife trust that it has included puffins in its ongoing 'Give Seas A Chance' appeal.

Every year, the trust has to raise more than £75,000 through the appeal to fund its work protecting the sea waters off the Yorkshire coast.

It uses the money to campaign for marine Protected Areas - 'sanctuaries at sea' where some protection can be given against, for example, bottom-towed fishing.The trust also encourages natural climate solutions such as 'seagrass meadows' - underwater meadows of marine plants. And it runs regular beach cleaning operations, to clean up discarded plastic which is such a threat to birds and other marine life.

You can find out more about the Give Seas A Chance appeal - and make a donation - at ywt.org.uk/give-seas-a-chance

Meanwhile, if you're a puffin lover, this weekend is the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust's annual Yorkshire puffin festival. There are activities for both children and adults. And you won't even have to head to the coast to take part. YWT nature reserves will be open. But too many visitors can case problems for wildlife, especially over the bank holiday, so there are a range of online activities, too.

"We're keen for our communication about puffins to be more focused on helping them and learning about them, rather than necessarily travelling to the coast to see them - particularly over the bank holiday weekend!" the wildlife trust spokesperson said.

To find out more about the puffin festival, visit ywt.org.uk/yorkshire-puffin-festival