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Subject: [Oversea] One day on Puffin Island [Print This Page]
Author: kkoel    Time: 7/08/2011 02:17     Subject: One day on Puffin Island

These birds were seen on or around the seabird colony on Isle of May, Scotland (special thanks to Dr Kwan & Matthew for recommending this excellent spot!). The island is a paradise for breeding seabirds, with up to 45000 pairs of Puffins and around 200000 breeding seabirds in total. Visitors have to stick to the footpaths diligently to avoid caving into the nest burrows of these extravagant yet cute Puffins.

Please enjoy the photos!













Atlantic Puffin



European Shag



Oystercatcher







Razorbill





Guillemot









Northern Fulmar





Northern Gannet



Great Black-backed Gull







Arctic Tern



Grey Seal

Isle of May
Scotland
4/5 June 2011

[ Last edited by kkoel at 7/08/2011 03:44 ]
Author: thinfor    Time: 7/08/2011 09:30

Author: lchunfai    Time: 7/08/2011 11:43

Author: mchristine    Time: 7/08/2011 15:18     Subject: Possibility of Arranging a Talk

Would it be possible to have Koel deliver a talk sharing with us how to get to the spot and what other birds and natural wonder did he see?
Author: kyshum    Time: 7/08/2011 15:35

Author: kennethchan    Time: 7/08/2011 16:03

nice photo, thank
Author: kkoel    Time: 7/08/2011 22:00

Hi mchristine,

I'm more than happy to share the info and it's probably a good idea to do this online, as I got all the trip info directly off the internet from various websites shown below.

Basically, Isle of May is an island off Southeast Scotland, and the closest city is Edinburgh. There are 2 ways to get there from Edinburgh. The first way is to take a ferry named "May Princess" from Anstruther, which is a small town 2.5 hours from Edinburgh by bus. The second way is to take a train (0.5 hours) from Edinburgh to North Berwick, then departing by speedboat from "Scottish Seabird Centre". Their websites are as follows.

May Princess, Anstruther Pleasure Cruises, Anstruther: http://www.isleofmayferry.com/april.asp
Scottish Seabird Centre, North Berwick: http://www.seabird.org/how-to-get-here.asp

I chose the first way, so I had to travel from Edinburgh to Anstruther. There is a reliable public bus service run by Stagecoach that goes from Edinburgh Central Bus Station to Anstruther Harbour, where the "May Princess" ferry departs almost everyday for Isle of May between April and September, with timetable dependent on tide and weather as shown in the link above.

Bus X58/X60 runs from Monday to Saturday, while on Sundays one needs to take X58/X60 then transfer to bus "Fife 95" for Edinburgh to Anstruther, and vice versa on the way back. Their timetables are:

X58/X60: http://www.stagecoachbus.com/Pdf ... 20X60%20Fife%20.pdf
Fife 95: http://www.stagecoachbus.com/Pdf ... _3860_95%20Fife.pdf

If the weather is fine, one day on Puffin Island is enough for most bird species that breed there, namely
Puffin, Razorbill, Guillemot, Fulmar, Shag, Kittiwake, Arctic Tern, Eider, Oystercatcher, Rock Pipit, and more. Actually it's less than one day: the ferry trip takes 4.5 hours usually, with 2 hours spent on the island, which is already enough for photo-taking if the weather is fine.

Gannets do not breed at all on Isle of May, but they breed on Bass Rock nearby, thus they are easily seen from the shores of Anstruther. Just walk to the end of the long dams on either side of the pier where the "May Princess" departs - one can easily count over 1000 Gannets flying at sea on a good day, as they go from Bass Rock to their feeding grounds.

Other birds possible in mid-summer include Manx Shearwater, Sandwich Tern, Great Skua (rare), Red-throated Diver (rare). Note that Black Guillemot is absent, and Purple Sandpipers are not regularly found on the island from May to September. However, one can expect rare migrants during the migratory season i.e. late April/early May and September.

Next we come to accommodation. I google-mapped Anstruther hostels to look up all hostels close to the pier, and eventually stayed in the "Waterfront", which I found reasonably-priced - 40 GBP for double room (which I had to stay alone haha), very clean and comfy, with great food in the restaurant downstairs, and literally 3 minutes' walk to reach the pier, and another 5 minutes more to reach the tip of the long dam to sea-watch for Gannets. The website for Waterfront is:

Waterfront Hostel: http://www.anstruther-waterfront.co.uk/

Scottish weather is notorious for being unpredictable and it can be 5 degrees with wind chill in mid-summer, as of 5 June 2011. The sun may shine, but don't go unprepared! Also, accommodation and ferry space needs to be booked at least 2 months in advance, especially for the hostels, because I found that I had only one choice left when I booked my hostel in mid-May.

Last but not least, one may ask how to choose between the two ways to get to Puffin Island. To cut a long story short, ferries from Anstruther is cheaper than speedboats from the Scottish Seabird Centre, and there's more choice of dates (Seabird Centre trips only run on Sat/Sun). So despite the fact that it takes 2.5-hour bus ride I went to Anstruther nonetheless.

Hope the info above answers most of your questions! If there's anything you need to clarify feel free to post here or PM. =)

Koel
Author: kmatthew    Time: 7/08/2011 22:45

Welcome Koel and Great stuff~ A place I wanted to visit! Will hopefully visit some day. The Razorbill closeup's totally stunning! It is indeed a highly recommended island for wildlife, a great alternative if you haven't got enough time to go to Shetland. I see there are sand eels around again? Apparently breeding numbers of most sea birds were terrible last year all round Britain due to a decrease in sand eels numbers, you saw many of them with sand eels in their beaks?

[ Last edited by kmatthew at 7/08/2011 22:47 ]
Author: kkoel    Time: 7/08/2011 23:16

Matthew!

I absolutely loved that place too - the birds are all very tame and approachable - save the Arctic Terns, which are perhaps more approachable than some people like, they dive-bombed every one that strayed too close like Skuas do!  

Sandeel stocks are apparently recovering but Puffin populations have been quite hard hit, decreasing by around 30% in the last 5/6 years. Hopefully they'll recover - this time I'm pleasantly surprised to see many individuals with more than 10 Sandeels in their beaks!
Author: ddavid    Time: 7/08/2011 23:49

Excellent pics and great information.

Well worth a talk at an HKBWS indoor meeting I reckon.

Congratulations

David
Author: mchristine    Time: 8/08/2011 00:04

Yes, an indoor meeting talk will be most desirable as we would like to ask a lot of questions.  Like how come the Atlantic Puffins could catch so many fishes at the same time.  I guess the density of the fish population in the waters must be super high.  Right?
Author: cchristina    Time: 8/08/2011 10:42

LIKE！！！
Author: lexusjohn    Time: 8/08/2011 13:51

Author: Ken    Time: 8/08/2011 21:22

Can't say anything...
Author: cywong    Time: 8/08/2011 22:43

Thanks for sharing the stunning photos and the trip information!
Author: Andiona    Time: 24/08/2011 22:51

Excellent Photo
Author: Andy-li    Time: 25/08/2011 00:07

Excellent pics..
Author: EricB    Time: 25/08/2011 04:15

A great selection of photos.I'd like to offer an alternative site that logistically may  be a little more awkward if you weren't keen on hiring a car;but I haven't really looked into what the public transport links are like.The boats to the Farnes run from Seahouses.
Have a look at this website for a flavour of what's on offer.
http://www.richardbedford.co.uk/newarcticle.htm
No Black guillemots here either but Red throated Diver shouldn't be too hard to see on the sea but don't expect close views.
The Arctic Terns only start to bombard people when their eggs have hatched. The Eiders are very common but the males are only on the islands at the beginning of their breeding season.However, photographic opportunities are pretty much always available at Seahouses where they approach tourists for Fish & Chip scrapes!
If you are interested in visiting drop me a line.I live about an hour from the Farnes.
BW
Eric
Author: nfelix    Time: 26/08/2011 00:36

Quote:
Original posted by EricB at 25/8/2011 04:15 AM
A great selection of photos.I'd like to offer an alternative site that logistically may  be a little more awkward if you weren't keen on hiring a car;but I haven't really looked into what the public t ...
Eric,

I heard of the Farnes Islands from the local bird photographers when I visited Scotland last year.  It would be great if I have had your message before my visit. Thanks for your sharing and information anyway.

Felix
Author: kkoel    Time: 29/08/2011 19:00

Hi Eric,

Thank you for sharing the website on Farne Island - now I wish I had turned to Farne right after Isle of May (though I still would have gone to Isle of May for the Gannets and Fulmars!!) It was not so easy to get good flight photos of the Auks on Isle of May, but I guess every site has its strengths and weaknesses. I would also have gone to Shetland too for the Skuas in the same trip, if only I had the tiiiime!

Koel



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