Inga said the puffins were gone ….

… but today, Monday, September 22nd, was a magical day. And because today was the Fall Equinox, we were given the gift of pufflings!

Of course, we began our puffling run with the dead one Inga found on the street last night. Then as we were strolling along the northwest shore of the island ….

Inga noticed this young man walking towards the cliff

Then maybe 10 minutes later, Inga noticed these people walking towards us carrying a bag. And sure enough, they had a puffling!

We strolled further down the shoreline and found another dead puffling. That made #4.

We were picked up by a very knowledgeable guide and driven around the island. He took us to the Puffin Lookout where many puffins live in burrows, but we didn’t see anything because their season is over. Until …

As if by magic, his lifelong friend arrived with ….

So we got our turn to have the joy of letting them be free!

Andrew

Joe

And that makes a total of SEVEN PUFFLINGS!!!

I do think it’s incredibly special that we had these experiences today since it IS past puffling season. We were very blessed to witness and help these baby puffins find the sea since the majority of their peers had already left on their own. You see, the adults come back in the spring to mate and return to their same burrow to lay ONE egg. They feed that baby until it’s time for them to make it on their own. The puffling’s instinct is to follow the moonshine and reflections of light in the water and fly away. But some get confused and head back towards town, seduced by the light there. It is a tradition to find these lost ones and release them to the sea where they will REMAIN in the water for TWO YEARS until they return the next spring. And the cycle continues.

My heart is so full to have seen these babies today. What a perfect fall Equinox gift!