Ok so not every day on the Isle of Purbeck is blue skies and
sunshine so instead of a cloudy grey shot from the castle I thought I would
post one of the photographs that has got a few 'oohs' and 'aahs' from people who
have visited, and the story behind it.
I’ll start with the Puffin, a bird that I am happy to admit
that I have an addiction to. I have travelled to many places in order to get
close to these birds because the few that stay on the Isle of Purbeck during
the summer are very difficult to photograph.
This Puffin was seen on our trip to The Shetlands last year after
a trek to the most northerly point of the most northerly inhabited island in
the United Kingdom. The path took us across heathland, through the nesting
sites of the infamous Bonxie to cliffs high above the sea and views towards the
rock stack of Muckle Flugga with its lighthouse. When we got there, it was blowing
a hoolie making it difficult for us but good for the hundreds of Gannets that
surfed the winds just off from the cliff edge. The Gannet was one of the other
birds that I had come here to photograph but there was a hint of disappointment
that there were no Puffins. We sat on an outcrop just above the cliff edge, opened
a flask of coffee, watched the skies and the sea far below. It was then that a
Puffin appeared from a hole in the ledge we were sitting on and walked between
my legs before flying off to find food. We moved back a little and waited a
little longer before this one returned with a bill full of fish and disappeared
below ground and out of sight.
For me it is impossible to see these wonderful little birds
without smiling!
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