The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is looking for two seasonal seabird assistants to live in a lighthouse and hang out with puffins this summer. The gig? You’ll work with a small team to manage and monitor the seabird populations of Coquet Island, a picturesque nubbin of land off the coast of England. That includes tens of thousands of puffins, as well as the UK’s most significant population of roseate terns. (The area also receives visits from the occasional walrus.)
The catch: you’ll need to be hardy enough to “work outside in all weathers” according to the job listing. You’ll also need to have decent bird-handling skills. The seabird assistants will be tasked with collecting data about the birds, including catching them and ringing them for identification. They may also have to help count baby puffins that hatch in the nest boxes around the island. (Baby puffins, by the way, are called pufflings.)
Also part of the job: managing pesky gulls. Whoever gets the gig will be equipped with an aerolaser, which looks like a cross between a flashlight and a bazooka, to humanely shoo the gulls away.
Coquet Island is a wildlife sanctuary. It’s such an important home for the 40,000 birds that live there that it’s protected by international law. Tourists aren’t allowed. So, if birding is your thing, this job is a dream: you’ll get to live on the island in a lighthouse for about three months, in a place no one else gets to visit, with a front row seat to all the action.
You’ll need to have the right to work in the UK in order to qualify for the role. Apply quickly if you’re interested—the job closes for new applicants on March 27. Looking for something Stateside? The National Audubon Society is also hiring seasonal coastal bird technicians in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
I would love this job!!