Bottoms up!
Over the weekend we saw lots of auk activity. This included over 35 puffins. The smaller cousin of the guillemot, these colourful little birds flood through Falmouth waters this time of year, often leading groups of other auks flying through on their migration.
Living for 25 years or more, the mature adult pairs return to the same clifftop year after year to reunite and breed. From April to July, the puffin makes its home on islands and cliff tops around our coast, the home of these individuals likely to be Lundy island or the Isles of Scilly. Once the season is done, the puffins will leave, heading out into the Bay of Biscay and beyond where they spend the winter months bobbing about on the rough seas in groups (also known as rafts).
All photos by Em Forster
