Puffin Mania

We have been engulfed by puffin mania!!!! - Puffins landing, puffins taking off, puffins fishing for sandeels, puffins cleaning their burrows and peeping out of the daisies. Hooray the puffins have landed! Last year we went in search of the little feathery creatures but alas they had headed back to sea. They spend about 9 months at sea and only come to land to breed. This year luckily we had the pleasure of their company for 3 days on a small island called Skommer which is located just SW of Wales.

The puffins are a sheer delight to watch as they go about their business. They are about the size of a pigeon and nest in burrows on the top of cliffs. They are not shy, nor are they afraid of humans. They peer sideways at objects and whilst on land borrow a colourful enlarged beak. In the sky they wiz around and are remarkably difficult to photograph, on water they bob like a rubber ducks and whilst in their burrows they emit strange sounds – aaagh aaagh aagh.

Dolphins, seals, razorbills (see picture below), nocturnal manx shearwaters being slaughtered by black-backed gulls are just a few other wonders of Skommer. All in all a real wildlife treat was had by Ross and myself.