Greeting Sunset
Upon the cliffs of Runde, there stands a small resilient survivor overlooking the crushing waves below. With a day full of work behind him, this puffin greets the sunset to come. After only a short Norwegian summer night, this bird will be heading out again. His mission is to gather enough food to raise the little puffling, which is impatiently waiting for another meal.
Puffins are monogamous and mate for life. Every year, if possible, they will only raise a single youngling. A strategy that might be problematic in changing times. Because the seas around the nordics and the palearctic are changing.
Atlantic puffins are a numerous and common species along the Norwegian shores. With great colonies, they are a very good indicator for the ecosystem as a whole. But what is the state? Nearly all puffin colonies along the Norwegian shores are in decline, but for the one furthest northeast on Hornøya. Increasing ocean temperatures, and overfishing makes it harder to still find enough fish that the puffin normally feeds on, and lead to a northward shift.
As for direct contact, puffins seem to be pretty unimpressed with humans around, which is not to say that there could be some level of stress induced by our presence. What is sure though, is that too much human activity around puffin burrows can lead to the destruction of said burrows and the landscape surrounding them. When visiting islands like Runde or Hornøya, it is crucial to stay behind fences, stay on paths, pay attention to signs, and especially like always: give wildlife space.
The end of May is a beautiful time to visit the island of Runde. I organize 1on1 workshops and weekend workshops and help you to creatively reach your goals. Puffin portraits are very common outcomes when visiting Runde, with me you will get a great number of different photo opportunities beyond that.
