A dull, cloudy, cool start to our walk this morning, delayed due to rain. My aim these days is to try and capture images around Bempton and the cliffs, that are different from everyone else's and that is hard! Everything was "same as" for most of the walk until (my) surprise of the day on Bartlett Nab viewpoint. A Puffin landed close to the viewing platform with a substantial number of sand eels in its beak! This is the earliest I have seen this at Bempton hence the total surprise and delight. It is also very difficult to capture images of this activity ay a seabird city, so much more easier on island colonies such as the Farnes. Once Puffins have mated and returned to their nest tunnels, it takes c40days to incubate their egg and a further 40 days to fledging. This means that this pair of Puffins would have laid early April! Also, once hatched, the parents would probably bring food for their Puffling commensurate with growth, small amounts on a regular basis. The number of sand eels in this birds beak would indicate a well advanced Puffling!
All images taken handheld with Sony RX10 Mk4.
Great to see! I missed this shot last year so am thinking of coming up next Monday for a 4 day visit. Any particular time of day to catch them returning with Sand eels?
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately no exact times, more being in the right place at the right time. It is very difficult getting such images on a sea cliff as the Puffins tend to fly straight into their tunnels with sand eels (avoiding predation). It is also quite early in the breeding season for Puffins feeding young. However, you may be lucky, as indeed I was! I hope you have a great visit.
ReplyDeleteSuch beautiful pictures, thank you for sharing
ReplyDeleteFabulous images of such a lovely piece of Puffin behaviour, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mandy
ReplyDeleteAwesome. My dream to capture photos like these. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you, right place right time!
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