*Male and female puffins look more or less identical, (except to other puffins, presumably) but wear their clown gear only for the breeding season. … are usually found in remote areas of Scotland which are difficult to get close to, so if you’re hoping to see them you might like to think about taking a decent pair of binoculars with you – unless you visit the Scottish Seabird Centre which I’ll cover next. Las year, we tried to visit them at the end of August in Iceland, but it was too late. These solar-powered cameras let you zoom in close on the wildlife from the comfort of the centre which means the birds are free of human contact and it’s the only place (that I know of) where you can watch puffins in this way. There are other departure points in Scotland but those are the two most-used, although to be honest I recommend you fly as the last thing you want to be doing on a holiday is dealing with seasickness in the North Sea. On the other side of the Atlantic from Scotland, they are called murres, a name you never hear here. Mila & Asier (The Stevenson dynasty of Scottish lighthouse builders included the novelist RL Stevenson.). I know I intend to. Anyway, there you are on the top of a cliff. Homepage » Articles » Outdoors & Nature Sightseeing. The spectacular cliffs at Fowlsheugh are packed with more than 130,000 breeding seabirds during the spring and summer months. The Corryvreckan whirlpool is particularly dramatic during new and full moons and many of the tour operators combine trips to the whirlpool with wildlife searches, where you might see dolphins, whales, seals and more. Getting to these islands is a bit of (make that a lot of) a trek and you’ll need to catch a ferry either from the mainland town of Oban to North Uist or the island village of Stein on Skye. The Complete Guide to Visiting Loch Leven in Kinross, The Complete Guide to Visiting St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, The Complete Guide to Visiting Lochranza on the Isle of Arran. And the thing to remember about guillemots, the puffin’s cousin, is that they are really jealous of their colourfully-beaked relative. And do you know, she just took these with her phone? Outaboutscotland.com also participates in affiliate programs with Awin, CJ, and other sites. After the breeding period they spend the rest of the year in the North and Atlantic Oceans in large flocks known as ‘rafts’. There are many more out on the Forth islands, eg Isle of May. The three-island tour takes a catamaran which is much gentler (my preferred option) but only sails around the islands. Answer 1 of 9: I plan a visit to Scotland in late May and would very much like to get up close to a puffin colony and I understand there are many places to see them. Unlike many bird species, a pair of puffins will stay together for life with one staying at home to look after their young and the other out at sea looking for food but they work together to build the nests which they return to year after year. There’s also the Bass Rock – described as one of the wildlife wonders of the world – a short distance offshore and the Scottish Seabird Centre which runs frequent boat tours to it. Puffins are part of the bird genus Fratercula which belong to the auk family. Take a look at these links for tours around this remarkable part of Scotland. So, give them space, don’t get in the way and don’t fall off the edge. I got some of these statistics from a book called The Seabird’s Cry, by Adam Nicholson. Isle of Staffa wildlife. This historic site is surrounded by classic tenement buildings that line the roads along the iconic West Bow and Victoria Street but it’s best known for the lively pubs and restaurants that offer superb outside seating areas. The most important thing to remember during your potentially rewarding puffinesque encounters is that while you might be thrilled to see them, the feeling is unlikely to be reciprocated, clown outfit or not. * Puffins lay a single egg only a little under one fifth of their own body weight. The Shetland Islands. Because – and I’ve seen it myself so often – picture this scene. No point in having great long soaring wings like a gull. (Thinking about it, I may have over-egged that last paragraph.). That might be because there’s a massive Viking influence in the Shetland Islands and you’ll find loads of Norse influences like the magical Up Helly Aa fire festival held annually in January, Mousa Broch (one of the largest ancient forts in the world), and Jarlshof which is the site of a 9th-century Viking settlement. I was so taken with the views I did not even see this flying object diving right at us! Faraid Head in Sutherland. St. Abbs Head in Berwickshire. If you visit keep that thought in mind as you’ll get the best views in the early morning when they set off and the early evening when they return but don’t worry too much if you miss them as you’ll see thousands of other birds throughout the day. To be honest I’d probably recommend Faraid Head for a visit even if there weren’t any puffins as the view across Balnakeil Bay is spectacular. Let’s take a look at some of Scotland’s most popular island puffin-spotting locations. When the time is right, like independently minded teenagers, the young set off at night from their home-burrow, ignored by their parents. Buy exclusive not-available-in-the-shops puffin gifts from the Out About Scotland Etsy Shop. It’s even close to an airport so you could take a flight in just to see the puffins before heading elsewhere. This tiny archipelago is situated about 40 miles north-west of North Uist (itself a remote Outer Hebridean island) and it’s the most westerly point of land in the UK. It’s a black guillemot. Baby puffins are, apparently, pufflings. West Sutherland has a small number of puffins, particularly on Handa Island. Puffins and auks have a special problem. Although this tour only visits Staffa, you’ll still have a chance to see some puffins between April and July. Very occasionally one of these (apparently) totally tedious guillemots will turn out to be an absolutely charming and captivating puffin. Imagine that, some puffin has got to fly and then dive even further for food for the chick, just so someone can give their indulged mutt a treat. Photographing Puffins by Hugh Harrop Telephone 07767 872260. Both birds were strangled, their egg smashed. It’s an incredibly atmospheric place that really comes alive in the summer months thanks to the unusual mix of both Atlantic and Arctic animal species that thrive in the dense forests of seaweed growing close to the shoreline. Then it’s round and into the sunny Moray Firth, where there are also a few at Troup Head (RSPB Reserve and boyhood haunt) though everyone associates this place with gannets these days. There is a wide variety of seabirds around the islands including guillemots, gannets, razorbills, shags, graylag geese, etc. T he Isle of Staffa and a tour to see puffins in Scotland had been on my bucket list for ages, and my recent weekend trip to Mull was the perfect occasion to finally tick off both! Smoo Cave is one of the biggest sea caves in the UK and it sits at the end of a long, steep-sided gorge. See the T&C below for full details. As a top-tip, no visit to this corner of Scotland would be complete without a visit to Smoo Cave which is only two miles east of Balnakeil. Everybody loves puffins. But no point in having wings that are really so small that you can only use them as flippers, otherwise you’d end up like the great auk – and we all know what happened to him. Puffins are always to be found close to or on the sea. Telephone 01620 890202. Dress in layers and make sure you have rain gear even on a clear sunny day. *They don’t breed until they are at least four, sometimes older and very often return to the site where they were born. I had to look it up. In this website I’ll show the best Scottish attractions and events and give you loads of tips for making the most of your time in Scotland. Here is our pick of the best places to see puffins in the UK A few places, such as the Bullers of Buchan north of Aberdeen and Bempton in Yorkshire, have small mainland colonies, but most are on islands. Can anybody tell us where we should go, and if they are still in Scotland in August. I know I have. See puffins in their natural habitats on the Firth of Forth. Pictured here) Tentative puffin sketch, done while hanging over the edge of this huge precipice…you don’t believe that bit, do you? Only joking about the last one. (Another place where you can stroll up to them , though slowly and carefully and with respect, as noted above.). Anyway, as I see you are still reading, then here are plenty of puffinous facts – just so you can be totally auk-aware. There are over 23,000 gannets, 24,000 guillemots and 10,000 fulmars on this small outcrop and in the breeding season the chorus of more than 150,000 chicks and adults is unforgettable. If you want to find out more about the Scottish Seabird Centre, the Bass Rock and other attractions in this part of the country check out my guide to The Best Places to Visit in East Lothian. The spectacular cliffs and sea stacks are a dream destination for ornithologists with puffin, fulmar, guillemot and one of the world’s largest populations of gannets. Where are the biggest and active colonies that time of year? On the wing these wee birds (they’re only around a foot in length with a less than two-foot wingspan) are surprisingly agile – despite how stocky their bodies are – but they have to flap their wings at near-hummingbird speeds to stay aloft. The steep cliffs of Sumburgh Head provide lots of protective nooks and crannies for a multitude of birds to nest in and each species has their own favourite area but the puffins seem to like burrowing into the soft soil at the very top of the cliffs. Ironically, one of the first results I found for it showed it in a small pack, being sold as dog-food. Kittiwakes, Puffins, Razorbills and Guillemots also breed on the reserve as well as small numbers of Red-throated Divers. Currently, there are an estimated 250,000 puffins on St. Kilda. The inflatable tour will get you to the Bass Rock in double-quick time but prepare to get wet if the sea’s a bit choppy. Due to its central location on The Royal Mile, St. Giles has become a popular tourist attraction and is an ideal stop-off point between excursions to the palace and the castle. The low-lying bay rises gently towards the hills behind it which are the reason why the St. Kildans built their houses there – the hills would have offered at least a little protection from the elements that batter the rest of the island. 90 minute trip to the Ascrib Island to visit the Puffin breeding colonies and the resident seals (common seals and grey seals). These are already popular puffins.). The best place to see Puffins in Scotland. Walking further east for half an hour will take you to the three Duncansby Stacks which you’ll be able to see reasonably closely at several viewing points but as the cliffs are so steep it’s basically impossible to see them from ground level unless you take a boat ride in from a seaward approach. The Isles of St. Kilda. The village of Lochranza on the Isle of Arran is located in an exceptionally picturesque area on the north of the island. Copyright: All photos, videos, downloadable files and texts are the property of Craig Smith unless otherwise cited or under a CC0 licence and may not be used or reproduced elsewhere without permission. Adorable tuxedo-ed puffins actually live in Scotland! Telephone 07595 540 224. Puffins can be spotted along many stretches of our coastline – from the northeast of Scotland, the north and south coasts of Wales, right the way along Northern Ireland’s sea-facing edge, to the north-eastern and north-western coasts of England – but outside of Cornwall there are three puffin spotting hotspots of particular renown. This one’s just caught a fish. Here we go. If your time in Scotland is limited and you don’t have time to spend a day visiting both islands, I recommend doing a multi-day tour such as this Iona, Mull, and Isle of Skye: 5-Day Tour from Edinburgh. What really blew my mind during my research was that the Puffins were actually on the SAME TOUR as another tour I was looking for–Fingals Cave Tour! Just now and again you’ll spot one or two – gasp – puffins. That’s why puffins flap more or less constantly while flying. As an added bonus those large crescent-shaped bills also make a great tool for attracting mates, although their vibrant bright-orange colour disappears once the breeding season is over. The puffin pictures here were captured by Johanna on Staffa, an island more associated with Fingal’s Cave. The orange on the legs and bill is a concentration of carotenoid pigments, built up from a diet of carotenoid-rich fish. You can see them interact with each other, clean their feathers, and simply be their adorable selves. I think I’ve cropped out the razorbills.) Kilda Cruises for St. Kilda tours: Visit one of the most important seabird colonies in Europe. I’ve seen great views of them at Sumburgh Head – just look over the wall of the road up to the lighthouse (the ultimate in easy puffin-ogling, I would say). Shetland Seabird Tours for the Shetland Islands: The ultimate Shetland wildlife experience and an unrivalled wildlife spectacle offering close seabird & seal encounters with the awesome Noss ‘seabird city’ backdrop. The Shetland Island’s aren’t quite as inaccessible as St. Kilda but they’re still fairly remote and visiting them requires either a choppy ferry ride from Aberdeen or a flight from Glasgow. (What’s capelin? West Sutherland. (Well, they’re hardly going to get it from the health-food store, are they?). Sadly, one auk you won’t see is the Great Auk. See, I told you being an auk, even a puffin, is a serious business. When they are nesting, puffins are often very easy to see and approach; in spite of being hunted and having their eggs raided in Iceland for a millennium, they have very little fear of people, and it is easy to get within a metre of them in some places. There can be up to 3000 puffins on the island in addition to other seabirds such as razorbills, guillemots and fulmars. (Pictured here). The UNESCO world heritage site of St. Kilda is by far the remotest puffin spotting location in this list but it’s one that really does need to be experienced by anyone who loves Scotland. These puffinries (yep, a collection of puffin homes is actually called a puffinry!) Obviously I can’t put in every cliff-face. Duncansby Head near John O’ Groats. OK, I know enough now about how to recognise a puffin. The conditions at Sumburgh Head are perfect for puffins and in the summer it’s one of the few places where you can get up close to them without scaring them away. Puffins live in puffineries. Although each islander consumed around ten puffins every day the birds managed to cling to survival on the perilous cliff-faces and today their numbers are larger than ever, which is just one of the reasons why UNESCO has granted St. Kilda the dual status of a Natural and Cultural World Heritage Site – one of the few places in the world to have the honour. The Bass Rock in East Lothian. They are still hunted in Iceland. Boat trips (such as AquaXplore ) that head out from the south of Skye to the neighbouring Islands, such as the Isle of Canna where Puffins nest offer the most reliable sightings. The Isles of St. Kilda. This is a small volcanic plug of rock that has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest thanks to its abundant plant life – some of which are endangered – as well as the surprising amount of wildlife that calls the island their home including grey seals, guillemots, storm-petrels and of course, puffins. Being a puffin in Scotland is probably a deadly serious business, what with the sandeel shortages and all that burrowing playing havoc with the plumage in the breeding season. Popular sites for wildlife tours include Foula, Noss and Hermaness where you can see vast flocks of gannets, arctic terns and skuas and Sumburgh Head which is the site of one of the world’s biggest puffin colonies. The fastest growing colony has been on the Isle of May. Sea Harris for St. Kilda tours: Sail past the highest sea cliffs in the UK, teeming with seabirds, and walk along the deserted street of Village Bay, abandoned in 1930 after 2000 years of continuous habitation. I saw my first puffin years ago on a visit to Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth and I’ve been a big fan ever since. 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