Last weekend I was kindly invited to join Arthur Morris’s UK Puffins & Gannets Photography trip. It was a short weekend, just 3 days. But it was packed with lots of sea bird action. The most sought after bird was of course the Puffin, an almost clownesk bird, but only by looks. These burrowing nesting birds are tough and fly like bullets. In Scotland the Puffin is nicknamed ‘Tammie Norrie’.
Puffin in flight, with Sand Eels | Puffin portrait |
We needed to sail to the Farne Islands in order to get close to them. This group of islands are a seabird heaven: Razorbills, Guillimots, Kittywakes, Fulmars, Arctic Terns and Puffins bread here. Puffins are estimated to inhabit the islands with app. 20.000 breading pairs.
Arctic Tern | Fulmar | Kittywake |
Close to our sleeping quarters was Bamburgh Castle. I photographed the castle at around 23:30, when the castle was flood-lit by the lights in the lawns around the castle. The purple sky of the undergoing sun provided a special color cocktail.
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More images of this trip can be found here: 2015 Seahouses.
I had the pleasure of seeing hundreds of puffins on Skellig Island (Ireland) many years ago. An experience I will never forget. Lovely pictures Peter, good catch!