We're going on a puffin hunt

Now usually a normal person would spend their Saturday morning having a lie in, maybe catching up on some TV, but clearly, I am not a normal person. Instead I decided to go on a puffin hunt so I made a relatively early morning journey over to Noss Nature Reserve, an island to the East of Lerwick. You get to Noss by first travelling over to and across Bressay. After the 3.5 mile walk over to the other side of Bressay you reach the small strip of sea that lies between Bressay and Noss, and the only way to cross it is by a small inflatable power boat run by the wardens who and work live on Noss. From the boat Noss just looks like a little island with not a lot there, and I was struggling to see where the puffins could possibly be living.

I ended up bumping into a group of people who work at the hospital and the health centre and they adopted me for the day which was nice. We set off together on the walk around the reserve, following the wall that hugged the cliff edge. Eventually I spotted my first group of puffins. They were way down below sitting in the sea, just being gently pushed along by the ripples of the water. What a fabulous life that must be! We continued steadily up hill seeing various other seabirds as we went. The terrain then levelled off and I could see in the distance a solitary puffin standing on the grass where we were walking to and I honestly nearly just ran towards it I was so excited. By the time we got there the puffin had flown off, but we could see loads more hanging out on a small section of cliff only a few metres in front of us. We stopped for a snack and a drink and just admired the puffins as the jumped off the cliff, swooped down and came back up to join back with the group. After our short break we continued onwards and I was beginning to see the real star of the show of Noss. Just around the corner from where we’d seen the puffins, you got the most spectacular view, a cliff face almost entirely covered by Gannets and other sea birds. Thousands upon thousands of birds just perched on the natural ledges or flying down below us (and above us). It was honestly one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. Walking up to the top of that cliff was quite a struggle as the wind was blowing you directly back down the hill, but the effort was worth it for the view at the top.

At this point I decided I needed my lunch so found a spot to sit. On reflection I should probably have waited till I was further down the other side of the hill as it was a bit of a battle to stop my sandwich blowing away, but I managed. At this point I had a choice to make as you can either turn back and walk back the way you came (this means a shorter walk) or you can continue and do a complete loop of the island. By now I think I’d already walked nearly 8 miles, but I decided to carry on around the island as I didn’t really have anywhere else to be, and I can do with the exercise anyway. At this point I had kind of separated from the group I was with initially as most of them had decided to turn back. So, I continued on my solo quest in search of more puffins.

Low and behold, a bit further down the cliff I found another ‘circus’ of puffins and just sat and watched them for a little while. The rest of the walk took you past more cliff edges with seabirds on but as the height of the faces decreased, so did the number of birds. Just the occasional Gannet family with a chick, sitting in nests away from the bustle of the main colony. The final exciting thing happened right at the end of the walk. There is a small beach area on the island and that day there just so happened to be a couple of seals having an afternoon nap on a rock. I hadn’t quite appreciated what big buggers they are, and they do also like to strike a pose for the camera!

After getting the boat back across to Bressay a very kind couple offered me a lift back across the island to save me another hour of walking, and my legs were rather thankful for that. I returned home via a gift shop I had seen in Lerwick as I had spied something I rather fancied in the window. So, I might be turning 20 tomorrow but I actually have the mental age of a 2-year-old and I am a sucker to a cute cuddly toy, and I welcomed Charlie the puffin into my collection, as a memento from my puffin hunt. He’s called Charlie after Charlie’s Holm, an area on Noss near where the puffins live.

Meet Charlie the Puffin 

That evening I had also been invited out to drinks with some of the other people in my accommodation. It was really lovely to get to meet new people and while I’m not usually one for a night out, I decided to that I might as well get the full experience of what life is like in Shetland. It was a good night and while I didn’t stay out as late as everyone else, I did have a Bailey’s as it felt well deserved after a long week. I returned home and went to bed, and didn’t wake up till about 11 this morning which was rather nice. A quiet day with a little trip out for coffee and cake was just perfect as a way to set me up for the week ahead.