The guide at Skellig Michael informed us that Skellig Michael is one of the largest puffin sanctuaries in the world. I didn’t know about this. I haven’t seen a puffin before but I do know what they look like. They are an endangered species and it seems that they prefer to breed in remote islands such as these. One of the warnings from the guide was to not chase after the puffin. Not to worry about it, since there will be more where that came from. As we were on our way to the top of Skellig Michael, we encountered our first puffin.
It was actually very cute. It was a like a parrot with a large and colorful beak. I remembered that warning of the guide since it was very easy to get carried away by the cuteness of the birds. We were lucky that it was a stormy day. Had it not been stormy, the birds would all have been out to sea. Seems like everyone is grounded. There are no trees here in Skellig Michael. I doubt that the trees could grow with the fierce winds bombarding the island. Instead, the birds live in burrows. It is very amusing to just stare at a landscape and suddenly notice a whole with a birds in it. Then visitors would see another burrow, and another. Turns out, there are countless number of burrows here, each one no doubt occupied by a puffin.
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