First puffins of the year land on Isle of May

After spending months out at sea, the beautiful birds are returning to the island, off the Fife coast.

And it was a wonderful sight for Scottish Natural Heritage reserve manager David Steel on Thursday morning to see them starting to come back this year.

David, who is currently one of two people on the island, said on Thursday: “I woke up and went out this morning and saw our first puffins of the year.

“It made me smile that they are back.

“It’s raining and quite cold and horrible, dreich as they say, but it’s brilliant to see them back.

“They are the first ones of the year, but it’s bang on time for when we would expect them, around the last week of March.

“This is the first time they have touched land since last August.

“When they leave the colony they head out to the north sea and the Atlantic and bob about on the sea until this time of year.

“We have got about 40,000 pairs on the island, it’s the third biggest colony in the UK.

“They are probably here in vast numbers across the island.”

And now they are back on land there’s a busy time ahead for the birds.

“They pair for life and they return to the same burrow each year,” David explained.

“So they will be coming back and meeting their partner for the first time since last August.

“The next few weeks for them will be spring cleaning. Some of the burrows might get damaged over the winter, by the weather or humans, so they will be spring cleaning, digging them back out if needs be and taking in fresh nesting materials and then they will get down to business of raising the chicks.

“We’d expect the first egg around mid April.”

However despite the return of the puffins at this time, which is normality for the island, it’s not all business as usual for the May.

The nature reserve is visited by thousands of people each year during its open season, with boats making the journey from Anstruther.

But the current coronavirus pandemic means that its opening to the public will be delayed.

David said: “Normally we would be welcoming our first visitors of the season on April 1.

“There were bookings for boats to come out, but with the current crisis this is not possible and we’re unsure when it’ll actually open.

“It will open at some stage but when, we don’t know.

“We’re just following the advice and guidance of the government and the NHS.

“It’s wonderful to have the puffins back on the island, but it’s sad that we’ll not be able to share it with people. It’s a reminder that the natural world is still going on out there as usual.

“We are posting to our blog, Twitter and Facebook for people to keep up to date with what’s happening on the island. Hopefully it can help cheer people up and is something different on your timeline.”

And although for many the puffins are the star of the show on the island, other sea birds are already making themselves at home for the breeding season.

David added: “The shags are nest building and we’re expecting to find the first egg any day now.

“The gannets and razor bills are here too. Slowly and surely the island’s turning in to a sea bird colony again as they all return.”