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Fratercula arctica
Small, upright-standing birds with distinctive orange beak and webbed orange feet. Black crown and head. White chest. Their black and white plumage reminded taxonomists of the habits of medieval monks; thus the name Fratercula (Frater= Brother).
Bempton Cliffs in Yorkshire. The vertical faces of the cliffs are absolutely riddled with holes and blessed with all sorts of ledges, shelves and cervices for use by nesting seabirds that fish in the North Sea. Puffins constitute a measly 1 per cent or so of the total avian population here; so it was very kind of this one to come and pose at hand's reach (We were scanning the far cliffs with binoculars, when a kindly lady tapped my shoulder and pointed out the Puffin sitting calmly on the outcropping where the observation platform was!)
Also called Clowns of the Sea and Sea Parrots.
Spotted on May 20, 2023
Submitted on May 22, 2023
13 Comments
Puffins were the greatest attraction at Bempton cliffs. Everyone was just looking to spot them and there was great excitement when one was seen.
One of my best memories from my visit to Skellig Michael in Ireland was watching the puffins. Standing right next to me they would leap off the cliff and plummet straight down, hundreds of feet, and not start flying till they were right above the water. They looked like they were having great fun.
Done...plus I may have earlier spottings...will add.
Hey Sukanya - great shot, I just wanted to invite Tammie Norrie to enrich our "Birds of Europe" mission... link here https://www.projectnoah.org/missions/239...
Now that is a lovely name with a lovlier story to go with it. Tammie Norrie is easy to pronounce too...so, Tammie Norrie is what I will call puffins now. Thanks a lot for sharing.
Hi Sukanya and Arne,
I found the name that we used as children for the Puffin, but I am almost too embarrassed to tell you how it came about. A long time ago, I used to do some water colour paintings of animals and birds (I was a terrible artist, but enjoyed sketching). When I mentioned to my wife that I couldn't remember the Doric name for a Puffin. She came right out with it. "It's Tammie Norrie isn't it ?". Well, you could have knocked me down with a feather. I asked her (remember she is Filipino) "how on earth do you know that?" She pointed to one of my old paintings, on the wall and there at the bottom, right under the Puffin, in my scrawl, were the words "Tammie Norrie". Before making a further fool of myself, I thought I had better check that the spelling was correct and that is when I found out that there is no Doric name for a Puffin. Tammie Norrie is the name used in the Shetlands and we Dorics borrowed it. Best regards to both of you, Sukanya and Arne. John B.
Thanks Arne for taking so much trouble in tracking down its name. I had not succeeded in my attempts. Let's see if this jogs some long-dormant memories for John. A confession, I don't think my Bengali-speaking tongue will correctly reproduce the name...I will certainly try though. :)
What about https://gd.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buthaid ?
Hi John, I was so happy to read your comments...aren't joyous memories of childhood the best thing ever!!! I learnt also the Gaelic for Puffin and tried to search via Google the name in Doric-but failed. So, I will wait for you to let me know...language skills are never forgotten I think ... just get a little rusty. Like I find myself reaching out for something on an empty shelf knowing it is crammed full of things (words) and my fingers just claw air. However, the moment someone speaks a word in that language, that word is back on my memory shelf. Thanks again...hope you have a wonderful day with many spottings.
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Seeing your Puffin brought back happy childhood memories in the north of Scotland. I can't remember when I last saw one, but it was more than 70 years ago. In Gaelic we called them Fachach. That was not my native language, but I learned some from my friends. My dialect was Doric which I can still speak fluently (after a gap of 70 years without using it), but I can't remember our name for the Puffin. If I remember it, I will let you know.
John B.
Thanks Brian, it was a lifetime wish of mine too....and at Bempton, everyone was helping everyone else to spot Puffins. It is such a sweetly strange little bird, Isn't it. Very lovable. Fingers crossed for you.
Congrats Sukanya! I always wanted to spot a puffin!