Nature’s endearing, dogged survivors are not faring so well in the face of the latest environmental threats
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.
Denne historien er fra July 2017-utgaven av The Scots Magazine.
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Denne historien er fra July 2017-utgaven av The Scots Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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The Bliss Of A Bothy
After a strenuous walk, a mountain shelter can offer all you need
The Long Way Round
When you can only just see the stepping stones under a river in spate, it's time to re-think the route, as two Highland adventurers found out
The New Oyster Cult
A community is helping to restore the once rich biodiversity of Loch Craignish, one species at a time
A Poet's Sanctuary
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A Rural Housing Crisis
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A Historic Centre
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A Bird With A Brain
Jim's encounters with the raven in several northern countries have only increased his respect for its intellect and ingenuity
The Warrior King
On the 750th anniversary of his birth, Robert The Bruce's legacy as cultural keystone and historical enigma continues to fascinate
All Going Swimmingly
From Tutti Frutti to Shetland, Monarch Of The Glen to Granite Harbour, Dawn Steele's heart will always be in Scotland - and the sea
Following The Coos
The latest charity art trail aims to a-moos-e and delight visitors to Perth and Kinross this summer