When we packed for this three plus month trip, we had to make some hard choices about what to bring as “ounces count” when they are on your back for days at a time. We opted to leave behind the camera with the zoom lens and rely solely on our iPhones for pictures. Yesterday was one time we could have really used that zoom.
Our second hike in Wales was mostly about getting to and from a boat that took us on an excursion to an island wildlife refuge populated by seals and seabirds—especially puffins. About 40,000 of the colorful birds nest on Skomer Island for three or so months beginning in April. We saw thousands flying, diving, and floating during our one hour journey. Unfortunately, our cameras weren’t up to the task of getting closeups so I borrowed a most excellent photo from Wikimedia commons of a puffin on our island. Laurie does have a few less than optimal shots in her Relive video below.
Because their stubby wings give them the glide path of a penguin, they must flap frantically to stay in the air to reach their nests or get to the sea. Otherwise they float or dive. We did learn some fun facts about puffins on our trip:
- They sport their colorful orange beaks and can fly only during the breeding season. Outside of that period, they shed their beak and flying feathers and live on, or dive under, the sea. They can hang around local waters or go as far as Greenland, Iceland, or the Western Mediterranean.
- They lay only one egg per season. Because they can live decades they can produce a dozen or more offspring during their lifetime.
- They lay their single egg in a burrow or rocky nest and feed their “puffling” or chick until it is ready to be on its own. Then they just don’t return. Eventually it will get hungry, venture off into the water, and learn to swim, hunt, and fly by itself. Our guide suggested that might be a good way to handle teenage children, if they get to be too problematic.
- See more fun facts about these “parrots of the sea” here.
Despite our lack of zoom lenses, it was a great experience. We saw many puffins and were even buzzed by them on the upper deck of the boat. We did have one seagull, nicknamed “Mooch,” that drafted along the ship in hopes of a handout that never came.
Click here or on the sign on the left (in Welsh and English) to check out Laurie’s Relive of our great puffin adventure.