Puffins!

Elliot87 · Jul 8, 2015

3 hours on the island is good. I was only able to spend 1 hour. Next time I'll try to pick one spot and wait for the puffins to do more interesting things. You seem to have more shots of them doing stuff, which makes for better pictures imo.

jay_dean · Jul 8, 2015

Felisek said:
Come to Isle of May! Seriously. I know it is a long trip for you, but the place is fantastic. I have never seen that many birds in one place in my entire life. I think there is a boat from North Berwick, so you don't have to come all the way to Anstruther.

Or, you can try Farne Islands, much closer to you.

PS: they say there are 40,000 pairs of puffins not he island, so yes, they are everywhere.

Sounds ideal, but I didn't inherit any sea legs from my Dad (a Navy officer) unfortunately. I remember feeling not so great on a ferry to Gozo once, oh and the ferry to Capri, and i don't even wanna think about that trawler in the North Sea that time!

Elliot87 · Jul 8, 2015

jay_dean said:
Sounds ideal, but I didn't inherit any sea legs from my Dad (a Navy officer) unfortunately. I remember feeling not so great on a ferry to Gozo once, oh and the ferry to Capri, and i don't even wanna think about that trawler in the North Sea that time!

I don't know about the Isle of May but on my recent trip to the Farnes I didn't even notice the boat swaying at all. I've been across to Gozo but can't remember what that was like in comparison.
I would say it is such a fantastic place to visit, it would be worth suffering a bit of sea sickness but that's just me.

Felisek · Jul 8, 2015

jay_dean said:
Sounds ideal, but I didn't inherit any sea legs from my Dad (a Navy officer) unfortunately. I remember feeling not so great on a ferry to Gozo once, oh and the ferry to Capri, and i don't even wanna think about that trawler in the North Sea that time!

Well, it is exactly like me. I'm not great with boats either. Here is the solution:

It works miracles. My last trip to the Isle of May was very smooth, I just picked the weather right. However, we recently went to Isle of Staffa, which took about 40 minutes on a roughish sea in a small boat. It was going up and down, up and down, up and down... Normally, I'd be puking all over the place, but after this drug I was absolutely fine. I take it every time I'm on a boat and I'm not afraid of the sea any more

.

Roy1961 · Jul 8, 2015

great shots and a lovely looking bird

mikew_RIP · Jul 9, 2015

Not good in boats myself but after i took up sea Kayaking it got a lot better,i think i read somewhere its often better in a small boat as you can see why its going up and down rather than just experience the sensation.

Lawrence · Jul 9, 2015

Great thread, great shots and really cool subjects

weebee · Jul 9, 2015

Fantastic! Every year when I go to Maine I hope to see these little guys. Only saw them once from a distance.

Felisek · Jul 9, 2015

You guys are all responsible for this

I've been a happy landscape photographer for donkey's years. And then I saw all these pretty bird photos here (birds, birds in flight, Tamron 150-600 photos e.t.c.). And then I though: "I want pictures like these myself!". And then NAS kicked in.

And this is how I ended up on Isle of May with my new Sigmonster.

10 Gauge · Jul 9, 2015

Were you using your Sigma 150-600 for a lot of these? Do you have the Sport or Contemporary version??

Felisek · Jul 9, 2015

10 Gauge said:
Were you using your Sigma 150-600 for a lot of these? Do you have the Sport or Contemporary version??

Yes. All pictures in this thread are from my Sigma. It is a Contemporary.

10 Gauge · Jul 9, 2015

Love your results. Does the C work with the USB dock? I might trade my Tammy in on it if so.

Sent from my HTC One M8 using Tapatalk

Felisek · Jul 9, 2015

Yes, it works with the USB dock (though you have to buy it separately). I had spent some time fine-tuning it with the dock and I think it improved it quite a bit.

The dock was a major factor in my decision to chose between the Tamron and the Sigma.

Vincent · Aug 23, 2015

Did not see this thread before.
I have 2 puffin trips planned the first one is in 2017, should be the easiest on the Lunga Island in Scotland, the second one will be more difficult for 2019 in France, Sept-Iles Perros-Guirec.

Never saw a Puffin IRL till now, last time there was a chance we went to Orkney it was in August and they were out in the Ocean. (this made us plan the next trips)

Felisek · Aug 23, 2015

You won't regret it. Being in the middle of a colony of tens of thousands of puffins is an amazing thing. Highly recommended. Just make sure you get your timing right, but I guess you know about it.

Vincent · Aug 27, 2015

Felisek said:
You won't regret it. Being in the middle of a colony of tens of thousands of puffins is an amazing thing. Highly recommended. Just make sure you get your timing right, but I guess you know about it.

I think European colonies are smaller.

In Scotland nesting is end of April-begin May, then the egg in May, hatching from mid June, flying out from mid July. So we are planning somewhere mid June to mid July.
Not clear if the cycle is different in France, will have to check before planning.