Bermuda

Alone in the Atlantic

Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory of about 180 small islands joined by bridges and causeways, warmed by the Gulf Stream enough to support the northernmost coral reefs in the Atlantic. Its pink-tinged beaches owe their colour to tiny red organisms called foraminifera.

The Bird That Came Back

The cahow, or Bermuda petrel, was believed extinct for almost 300 years, until 18 nesting pairs were found on rocky islets in Castle Harbour in 1951. Nearby Nonsuch Island was then restored as a living museum of Bermuda's original forest, and in the 2000s cahow chicks were moved there to start a new colony. The cameras look over the island and into artificial burrows, where a single chick is raised each season.

A Year in the Burrow

The adults return from the open ocean in autumn, the female lays one egg in January, and the chick hatches around March. It leaves the burrow for the sea in late May or June, and the cameras then show an empty nest until the birds come back.