Puffin with Family's Dinner

Throwback Thursday : A Puffin with his Family’s Dinner

I don’t check the stats very often on my flickr account but when I looked this morning I saw that this picture had 5,959 views in one day (yesterday).

I’m intrigued to know the reason for this , as it can’t have been flickr members as there are no comments or likes. Surely out of almost six thousand hits somebody would have liked it. So I’m puzzled, but pleased.

Coincidentally, I took this picture exactly 5 years ago on 16th June 2011 on a birdwatching trip to the Isle of May Bird Sanctuary, off the Fife Coast in Scotland.

For a whole afternoon you get to wander around this beautiful tiny island, always carefully keeping to the marked paths to avoid stepping on puffins’ burrows. There are hundreds and hundreds of puffins, as well as terns, kittiwakes, guillemots, razorbills, fulmars,cormorants, seals and so much more. It is a magical place that allows you to get really close to the birds as they have no reason to fear humans. They seemed to view us with a mixture of curiosity and acceptance .

Puffin ,Isle of May, sand eels, Birdwatching Scotland

Puffin with Sand Eels©HelenBushe

I’ve just checked on the Isle Of May Blog and read this ( it’s illustrated with some beautiful pictures) –

Tuesday 14th June comments: Action stations! Its now all go on the Isle of May as thousands of chicks are hatching across the islands. In recent weeks we’ve seen a real baby boom as Puffins, Guillemots and Razorbill chicks have been hatching.

In the last few days we’ve also seen our first Kittiwake and Arctic Tern chicks hatch and that means only one thing; busy parents. From first light (about 4am) to dusk (about 10:30pm) adults will be busy bringing food to hungry chicks, so it’ll be non-stop until the chicks are ready to fledge.

The Isle of May is alive with birdlife and a trip out at this time of year can be mesmerizing as this Seabird City is alive with birds. So why not join us and enjoy this amazing place, you’ll not be disappointed. –

For information about the history ( Vikings, monks, smugglers, Scottish Kings and Queens), natural heritage, and details on visiting click here to visit the main site of Scottish National Nature Reserves. It even tells you how to apply to live with all these puffins on the island as a volunteer.