This is a hatched puffin egg. The beauty of it is mostly in tact. A beautiful speckled puffin egg:

(Photo Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28190483@N07/3650595298/)

Both parents take care of the puffin eggs. The male puffins build a nest for the female. Then the female lays generally 1-5 eggs. Puffin parents are very protective guarding their puffin eggs diligently until they hatch approximately 40-43 days later.

(Photo Source) http://www.flickr.com/photos/rachdavies/4536304212/in/set-72157622464609790/ or by flickr name (camera lass) (Davies Photography) http://www.daviesphotography.webs.com/)

This year has been a good one for the puffins in the Forth Islands off the Scottish coasts near Edinburgh. Tree fallow covered the islands of Craigleith and Fidra obstructing the puffins’ burrows, preventing them from entering where they lay and tend to their eggs. Volunteers have been working hard to clear out all the tree fallow and the numbers look promising so far!

You can read more about it here.

Congratulations to the Forth of Firth Islands for doing what was necessary to help their puffins survive and thrive! =) YAY for volunteers who care! And yay for puffins!

While researching the Tufted Puffin I came across these wonderful Tufted Puffin photographs taken on Carroll Island, Washington State in June of 1907. This is an island in Clallam County. These photographs are part of the University of Washington archive. Sources cited below.¹²

1. http://content.lib.washington.edu/u?/wastate,1375 [↩]
2. http://content.lib.washington.edu/u?/wastate,1389 [↩]