Fantastic Puffin Pictures by Benjamin Joseph Andrew

I saw this and HAD to share them with you. They were taken by Benjamin Joseph Andrew and displayed on Flickr.
Stoic. Even without their colors, they are adorable.

Puffins in love

All rights reserved by original photographer Benjamin Joseph Andrew (http://www.flickr.com/people/52702463@N05/)

 

Sweet love…

Puffin

All rights reserved by original photographer Benjamin Joseph Andrew (http://www.flickr.com/people/52702463@N05/)

 

Peek-a-boo!

Puffin

All rights reserved by original photographer Benjamin Joseph Andrew (http://www.flickr.com/people/52702463@N05/)

 

Please DO NOT use these images. They are not mine and all rights are reserved by Benjamin Joseph Andrew.

 

Sea Bird Chess Set with puffin pawns

I have recently learned to play chess and I love it! It is so much fun. So, what did I set out to find? A bird chess set and this is what I found…PUFFINS!!!!

What puffin-loving chess player couldn’t swoon at this lovely work of art? The individual pieces are well-crafted and beautiful. The King and Queen are penguins, the bishops are pelicans, the knights are seagulls, the rooks are hatchlings just breaking through their eggs and last but not least, the pawns are all adorable little puffins (one of my very favorite sea birds!).

This is going on my birthday wishlist for certain! You can get this Sea Bird Chess Set here.

Tufted Puffin population at Haystack Rock declining

Where or where have our little tufted puffins gone?

Where or where could they be?

According to the observations of volunteers for the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife, tufted puffins are in a rapid decline over the past 25 or so years. From 612 puffins observed in 1988 to 150 nesting in 2010 and no more than 25 at one time this year. 1

This is just bad news! I think it is time we start to help the puffins on the Oregon and Washington coasts recover like they have in Project Puffin on the east coast. Any ideas on how to do this?

 

  1. http://www.cannonbeachgazette.com/news/local_news/article_919ff0b4-d124-11e1-a065-001a4bcf887a.html [↩]

Puffin Camp

The Audubon’s Project Puffin offers a camp for adults to learn all about the adorable birds and you can be part of it. There are several ornith-camps put on by the Audubon Society. You can see them all here.

This is an example of the Hog Island Audubon Camp in Maine:

Pompous Puffin (comic)

A creative artist made a watercolor comic with a puffin… though, I think Pompous Puffin being one of the clown’s of the sea could give Silly Seal a run for his money in the silly department.

Source: http://foxysquid.deviantart.com/gallery/?q=silly+seal
Full rights reserved by Foxysquid on Deviantart

 

Photogenic Puffins

Any puffin lover can tell you how photogenic the little clowns of the sea are but apparently, this Alaska photographer has seen it translate into a career (and no doubt monetary) truth as well.

Photo: Public Domain (Not Dake Schmidt’s work–visit his website to see his work)

According to, Dake Schmidt “People love puffins”. “When it all started as an idea in my head; I thought bears would be it,” Schmidt said. “But it’s not. People go psychotic for puffins.”12 Well,  I guess people are putting their money where the colorful beak is…can’t say we blame them!

  1. www.dakeschmidtphotography.com/ [↩]
  2. http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/b49246cd29234c3884e487d8f3511fc4/AK–Kodiak-Photographer-Calendar [↩]

This little puffin went wee, wee, wee right into town…

Pufflings get disoriented at times and are often attracted to the light in nearby towns. They come out of their burrows and follow the lights. This happens anywhere there are puffins and towns nearby. This year is no different. With the heavy raining happening in Scotland (and the UK), pufflings are trying to escape their burrows so they don’t drown and are finding themselves in town. One puffling followed some guests into a hotel. One was being chased by two mechanics in an automobile dealership. How cute is that?

Too bad they didn’t take pictures of the pufflings in the hotel or a video of the puffling giving the two men a nice run around. =) How adorable would that have been to see? The frightening part is when the puffins come into town, they are in danger of being hurt by cars, by animals, by any number of things. Luckily most in this city, North Berwick, are returned to the Scottish Seabird Centre to be cared for and returned into nature where they stand a better chance to live a long, normal life.

((http://www.scotsman.com/edinburgh-evening-news/edinburgh/puffin-invasion-has-north-berwick-in-a-real-flap-1-2412244))

((http://www.scotsman.com/news/odd/it-s-something-for-puffin-at-seaside-town-1-2411946))

Live Puffin update

From the Project Puffin Live puffin cams, here is a screenshot from this evening. The mama is with the puffling. The little puffling is getting so big. When he faces the camera, his tummy fur is white! So cute! Really, you should check it out if you have time. You can watch it here.