Seeking Things to Do in Scotland? See the Atlantic Puffins on the Isle of Lunga

According to the beliefs of the Wunambal Gaambera people, the two extraordinary stone formations that mark where the river mouth empties into Prince Frederick Harbour are said to depict “wunggurr,” the creator snake, to the east and a kangaroo to the west. But now that the saltwater crocodile population has rebounded, they’ve resumed their position as unofficial guardians of this dreamy waterway.

Though they spend much of their life at sea, Atlantic puffins return to clifftops during their mating season to form breeding colonies, their clown-like appearance endearing them to many photographers and filmmakers when they do.

One of those is Latvian wildlife photographer, expedition guide and filmmaker, Denis Elterman who filmed these seabirds nesting and taking off on the Island of Lunga, which is classed as a bird sanctuary.

A location untouched by man

“Everybody knows puffins — they’re easily likable and are just so photogenic,” says Elterman, who was traveling on the Silver Cloud expedition vessel during this particular trip through the British Isles, including southern Scotland.

“Lunga Island is a breeding colony for a variety of birds such as guillemots, razorbills, shags, kittiwakes and a few others. Yet the very beautiful thing about it compared to all the other places you go to see puffins is that it is uninhabited, so there is no impact from visitors. It is a lesser known place with just a couple of thousand people maybe going to visit it during the spring months when puffins are around.”

Observing fascinating breeding pairs

Atlantic puffins collect and adorn their burrows with grass ready for when they will lay a single egg, which both parents will incubate. These soon-to-be parents then take turns heading out to sea, returning with a beak full of silver capelin fish.

“Puffins have this incredibly designed beak in which they can hold up to a dozen capelin fish and bring them back to the burrow. One of the pair will be waiting at the burrow patiently incubating the egg and waiting for it to hatch,” adds Denis, who has visited this spot on Lunga four times, always observing new behaviors each time.

“Interestingly, puffins always come back to the same burrow, doing their spring maintenance and clearing it all up. They are also monogamous, which means that they stick together for a lifetime. They are an idyllic bird and very social creatures that like to stay in this big community,” Denis adds, the location just a 15-minute easy hike from the Zodiac drop-off point.

Filming flight patterns

“The challenge of capturing puffins is that they are so indecisive,” says Denis, who filmed them taking flight with his Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 with a Nikon 200-500mm zoom lens.

“They walk back and forth with their little feet, pluck the grass, then change their mind and go out to sea — it’s just incredible,” he says.

“One minute they flap their wings, so you think they’re taking off, but they don’t. So you’re sitting there and observing them, and it’s incredibly hard to decide which puffin to look at and which might take off the next second.

“But the best thing you can do is just to sit down and enjoy the experience, and just watch one puffin out of them all — it will give you a good idea of what their life is in the colony.”