With their outlandish faces, comical walk and all-round clownish looks, Atlantic puffins (Fratercula Arctic) must be the UK's most loved seabird! Yet, through overfishing of their principal prey (sandeels), introducing invasive predators (namely brown rats) and continuing to warm the oceans, we have driven them to some of the most extreme and wild places on these islands.
Many of our trips have included visits to puffin colonies, at Hermaness, Sumburgh and Burravoe on Shetland, Birsay on Orkney, Bempton Cliffs in North Yorkshire and our "local" colony on Skomer, off the Pembrokeshire coast.
Despite the impact of man's activities, they are surprisingly confiding, allowing for detailed and intimate studies of their behaviour. While puffins have been the subject of whole books, here are my few photos to illustrate their lives on the water, on land and in the air.
