Puffins Are Living On The Edge
The Scots Magazine|July 2017

Nature’s endearing, dogged survivors are not faring so well in the face of the latest environmental threats

Jim Crumley
Puffins Are Living On The Edge

NOTHING about puffins is ordinary. Here is one coming in to land on a rock not five yards from where I stand on the Isle of May. I’m standing still, but even so, I’m six feet tall and not at all rock-like, but it seems hell-bent on landing there anyway.

It comes at me head-on, and in its final gesture just before touchdown it throws its wings wide – if you have never seen a puffin up close, they are surprisingly small – with a pronounced upwards curve.

In this attitude, its head appears to have slipped below the level of its shoulders, so the effect is of a vivid white owlish face ringed by a black collar, the whole rakishly divided by the reddish-orange slash of its extraordinary bill. From this perspective, it is essentially a white bird, terminated with a black arc of widely flourished tail feathers. Outrageously orange legs and webbed feet set off the astonishing moment.

It lands, stands, looks around, thrashes its wings at nothing in particular, calms down, turns sideways and in an instant transforms into the bird we all know and love; the sea parrot, the clown, the tammie norrie. The rock where it has landed has a little step towards its seaward edge, a foot long, a few inches deep. The puffin subsides onto that step and folds itself in such a way that it perfectly fills the shape of the step, as if a loose part of the landscape had just been ushered back into place.

Ten yards away, another puffin whirrs in on blurred wings, its bill full of fish. I say full, but in reality it isn’t. It is carrying three fish sideways, arranged so that the tail of the one in the middle is on the opposite side from the tails of those at the front and back. Three fish do not amount to a mouthful for a puffin – seven or eight do, always arranged head-to-tail alternately.

この記事は The Scots Magazine の July 2017 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

この記事は The Scots Magazine の July 2017 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

THE SCOTS MAGAZINEのその他の記事すべて表示
Unst To Orbit
The Scots Magazine

Unst To Orbit

Shetland's spaceport is set to take Europe by storm, launching rockets to the stratosphere

time-read
3 分  |
November 2024
Just Passing Through
The Scots Magazine

Just Passing Through

A tale of the unexpected unfolds at dawn in a Stirlingshire glen as a rare, shy creature slips out of the shadows

time-read
5 分  |
November 2024
Brigadoon Revisited
The Scots Magazine

Brigadoon Revisited

An affectionate look back at the low budget \"synthetic Scotch\" movie that still sparkles in the mist, 70 years on

time-read
4 分  |
November 2024
A Brand New Opening
The Scots Magazine

A Brand New Opening

The Scots Magazine revisits the Old Course in St Andrews almost 70 years on and celebrates recent progress in welcoming women

time-read
2 分  |
November 2024
Kenmore's Crossroads
The Scots Magazine

Kenmore's Crossroads

Fury over a luxury redevelopment at the Perthshire village made news headlines around the world but is the tide of popular opinion turning?

time-read
6 分  |
November 2024
Seeing Double!
The Scots Magazine

Seeing Double!

Sam Heughan's Outlander body double, lain Wilkie, shares stories about his experiences on and off screen

time-read
3 分  |
November 2024
The Story & The Song
The Scots Magazine

The Story & The Song

With a soundtrack to a Shetland tale, author and musician Malachy Tallack blends his artistic passions in his latest venture

time-read
5 分  |
November 2024
A Rebirth From The Earth
The Scots Magazine

A Rebirth From The Earth

Erland Cooper's intriguing project has given nature and two determined fans a hand in shaping and bringing his new album to light

time-read
3 分  |
November 2024
Nip Of Champions
The Scots Magazine

Nip Of Champions

Whisky has long been associated with moments of triumph, including a recent example of clever sporting motivation

time-read
3 分  |
November 2024
The Waterside Hotel
The Scots Magazine

The Waterside Hotel

A spectacular spot on the stunning Ayrshire coast

time-read
2 分  |
November 2024