For Wendywombat

[mauveme]

Saw this thought of you.

[wendywombat]

Oh! Thank you Linda!! That really made my day!

I was reading an article yesterday about Puffins by the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.) called Project Puffin.
https://rspb.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Casca ... f9ce7af0c6" target="_blank

They have been doing studies about Puffins and their food supplies. Really interesting....and then this lovely picture popped up on my screen this morning.

[mauveme]

That was an interesting article. Never knew they existed till I saw yours and didn't know they were in the Shetlands and Hebrides. Pretty birds, and they travel so far for food too. Thanks for the info on them I enjoyed the read..

[wendywombat]

I shall never forget the first real close encounter. I'd seen them from a distance off the Farne Islands in the North East of England, but when my late MIL and I took a trip to the Shetland Islands we saw them so close. We lay on the ground above their burrows and watched them flying in, their beaks full of sand eels, to feed their chick's. Magic! I was so enamoured that I didn't think to take a photo!

[mauveme]

That's a lovely memory to have. (too bad about the pics though)

[Serinde]

Do you know about this project?

[mauveme]

No I didn't. It's fascinating. Never knew anything about them. (and that's embarrassing being a Brit) They are all over Gr. Britain too. Would love to be a puffarazzi and visit some of the sites.

[Granny Weatherwax]

Cute photo!
And the word pufferazzi

[wendywombat]

Do you know about this project?

Yes I saw this one as well.
Made me smile ...that word 'pufferazzi '. I always called myself a Puffinophile

Sad to think that on an island to the north of Iceland they Eat Puffins

[Serinde]

Sad to think that on an island to the north of Iceland they Eat Puffins

Excusable back in the day when you ate what was available. But not now with a species under indirect threat because it can't get the food it needs from the sea due to human actions. We can change our diets; puffins can't. "Tradition" makes for a poor excuse when its expression becomes an existential threat.

[richardandtracy]

I had the pleasure of watching Puffins in the cliffs overlooking the west of Vik on the south coast of Iceland in 1988. They are wonderful little birds, absolutely enchanting. It was June, and what stood out in my mind were the colours. The sky was a bruised purple grey with a low, soft sun lighting up the underside of the clouds. The sand on the beach was black with hints of grey, the brash ice washing up on the wavelets on the otherwise smooth steel-grey sea was a deep electric blue, the cliffs were black basalt interleaved with layers of black ash, mottled with streaks of bright orange (algae) and electric green grass & moss. The Puffins were black except for their pristine white waistcoats and brilliant, brilliant beaks. Their flight towards the nest holes reminded me of nothing other than WW2 films of Kamikaze aeroplanes up until the last moment when they suddenly stopped and landed on their feet - to their (and my) evident surprise. It was if the whole scene was being shown in oversaturated Technicolor.

Had seen Puffins before then on the islands off Pembrokeshire (Caldy being one), but never so memorably or so vividly.

Regards,

Richard

[kingfisher68(2)]

Lovely photo & how wonderful to get so very close to the puffins Wendy. a great memory for you to have. I have seen them on Countryfile & the presenter wriggled on the ground to get close to them & their burrow. Guess you did the same, they are cute little birds. Clowns of the Sea I believe is another name for them. Of course I could be wrong!

There was a cross stitch called Puffin Pair on EBay recently. I did think of you but then thought you may already have it, as I believe I am right in saying a few weeks ago you said your DH wouldn't let you have any more pics of them as you have so many.