This extraordinarily tame puffin came home with us after our first visit to Lundy Island, and has resided in our living room ever since.
Lundy means Puffin in old Norse. There were 3000 pairs of Puffins on Lundy in the 1930’s. Due to foraging rats and also a decline in the sand eels upon which they feed, there has been a sharp decline in recent times. There are now less than ten breeding pairs left on the island.
On the 31st March we paddled to the Treshnish Isles. We didn’t see any puffins. The guide book said they arrived in April.
The next day, 1st April, we saw loads on the water. They seem to keep extraordinarily good diaries.
http://www.fringearts.co.uk/portfolio/puffin_nuffin_02.jpg
It always amuses me that the Puffin is Fratercula Arctica, while Puffinus Puffinus is the Manx Shearwater.