Sea Parrots and Ocean Clowns
It was on a RIB in the Firth of Forth that I first saw a puffin. Bobbing along in the water as we cut through the waves, they seemed remarkably unperturbed by this disturbance of an otherwise peaceful afternoon. Their iconic orange bills swung round to eye the boat as we approached the Isle of May - home to over 120,000 Atlantic Puffins.
We sped through the slightly chopping water, passing the iconic bass rock and speeding towards the Isle of May, uninhabited apart from the small band of Scottish Natural Heritage Staff and 300 odd tourists that ruck up daily. Our RIB gently bumped the pier as we tied up and clambered onto dry land where we were met by the SNH staff. Greeting us the explained they lie of the land and set us free to explore. The Isle of May was like something I’d never experienced. Gannets soared through the sky. Razorbills and Shags clung to every perch on the sheers cliffs and the ground was littered with puffin burrows. Gulls eagerly eyed up the incoming birds looking for an easy steal as the attempted to mug incoming puffins of their food; resulting in many puffins having to dive-bomb into their own burrows to avoid losing the fish they had spent so long catching. Despite their small statue of around 30cm they can dive to depth of up to 60 meters to catch around forty small fish a day plus enough to feed their one baby – known as a “Puffling”
To see the full puffin gallery or for more information about the RSPB100 gallery click below!
