Iceland's most famous birds are, of course, puffins — Atlantic puffins. Bright, unusual, cute and photogenic — I think very few people have not seen and remembered them at least from photographs. The most memorable feature is the bright red beak — however, it does not always look like this, but only during the breeding season, just when they fly to earth in order to have chicks.
It turns out that in the fall, when puffins leave their colonies on land and fly away to winter in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, their bright beak and small red spots around the eyes lose this color noticeable from afar (the beak molts) and become dimmer and grayer. They need to be attractive to females on land, and not in the ocean, there it is unnecessary.
Every spring, a huge number of puffins arrive in Iceland: the Icelandic colony is the largest in the world and accounts for more than 60% of the entire population. There are also colonies in North America, northwestern Europe and even on the northern coast and islands of Russia, but not many and not so big. Bird colonies are located on coastal rocks and islands, they nest in crevices between rocks or in holes in the soil. Puffins probably enjoy the almost untouched, wild nature of Iceland, and besides, like many birds, they always fly to the colony where they were born.
I saw puffins in Iceland and was delighted with them: small size (30-35 cm high, weighing up to 0.5 kg) and fabulous, cute appearance, these slightly clumsy plump birds fly very quickly, they hunt fish well under water, and can even run on the ground. Anyway, to spend the winter in the cold northern waters, to be there all the time — in my opinion, this deserves respect. Well, and they are very beautiful, photogenic, and not too shy at the same time — a great combination for a person with a camera in hand :)
By the way, in Iceland (and, it seems, also on the Faroe Islands), despite the protective measures in relation to these birds, hunting puffins is legal and continues to this day, although many believe that this should be completely stopped. It is part of the history and culture of the northern maritime peoples. At the same time, the image of a bird is so popular and recognizable that in Iceland there are simply whole mountains of the most diverse souvenir products with their image :)
In general, puffins are birds that are interesting to watch. I hope I still have such a chance.
It's better to watch the photo in high resolution.
OLYMPUS E-M1 Mark II
Exposure time: 1/1600 sec
Aperture: F 2.8
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Focal length: 150 mm
35 mm equivalent: 300 mm
You can also see my photos in my blog LJ and in my profile on NatGeo