The Purbeck Puffin

A few shots from last night on the Durlston Country Park bird cruise. Although there were Peregrines, Fulmars, Razorbills, Kitiwakes, plenty of gulls and hundreds of Guillemots, the Puffins were what we all wanted to see. The Sun was setting, the light was going, the shots are blurred and grainy but it is always great to see this little bird whether you get a photograph or not.

Grey and gloomy, but with added Gannets.

Another grey and gloomy walk along the cliffs this morning was good but made better by the site of several Gannets skimming just above the waves, far out to sea. It is a shame that they tend to stay away from the cliffs, only occasionally venturing near to land here, because they are stunning birds with snow white plumage and beautiful markings. The Gannet then was another bird that I needed to get closer too and that meant travel north to the Yorkshire coast, to one of their few mainland breeding colonies.   When you get to see and photograph these birds in the early morning Sun their colours really shine, when you get close their ‘painted’ faces show up perfectly.

 

Guarding the Coast

The highly popular Purbeck Footprints blog has been nominated for a prestigious local award along with a less important blog run by a group that I will call the Swanage Guardcoast, to hide their identity.

At the weekend, at a secret location in the Purbeck Footprints gallery just off Station Road in Swanage, plans were drawn in order to keep up a certain standard and maintain gentlemanly conduct.

It was agreed that I would not guard the coast and help save lives as they do and in return, the Swanage Guardcoast would not post wildlife photographs.

To my utter horror, I find that our once much loved coastguard have completely over stepped the mark and posted a photograph of a snail!

I have to tell you that the gloves are now well and truly off and I have had to retaliate in the harshest way possible.

Here is a photograph of me guarding the coast

That'll show them!

June - A Time for Puffins

At this time of year, we have a little visitor that is instantly recognisable and a favourite many, including me. There is a small number of Puffins along the coast of the Isle of Purbeck, they usually start to arrive in May and will stay for a few months, but they are almost impossible to get close to. This doesn’t stop me taking to the water every year though as just seeing these little birds is very special and they can often be spotted on the water or flying towards the cliffs. As with all of the animals and birds here, if I cannot get close and take the photographs that I want I go a bit further afield to where I can. Bempton Cliffs on the Yorkshire coast is a fine place to see them, but my favourite place was the remote Latrabjarg cliffs on the western most tip of Iceland. Getting up close and personal with the Puffin was a real treat always worth the effort.