The lamb is so good I can almost overlook the fact that islanders eat adorable puffins.
Three weeks into his stay, the puffins started to arrive, a pair at a time.
Privately owned, Papey Island is home to third largest colony of puffins in Iceland, with more than 100, 000 breeding pairs.
Preparations are being made for the first survey of puffins on the Farne Islands, off the Northumberland coast, in five years.
The charity said the bodies of puffins, kittiwakes and guillemots had been discovered.
BBC: Hundreds of dead seabirds washed up on East Yorkshire coast
However it is the puffins that draw the most visitors, with the town increasingly praised among birders for its close access to the colony.
With their orange, duck-like feet, black-and-white penguin body and bright red, parrot-like beak, puffins have an irresistible charm, despite their ridiculous appearance when airborne.
At the end of March, hundreds of dead birds including puffins were washed ashore after severe conditions in the North Sea.
BBC: Stone curlews died underweight because of 'cold spring'
Until this study, very little was known about where puffins went during the winter as the birds spent the entire time at sea.
My mind beat back north, thinking of the puffins' flight, the lines we leave behind us, the spacious weave, our wake, then sleep.
Last month dozens of dead seabirds, including puffins, were washed up along the County Durham coast, with experts blaming bad weather and a shortage of food.
Dr Bevan and the team of researchers from Newcastle University also fitted the tiny geolocator tags to the leg rings of eight puffins during 2009.
They fear that with vital catches of fish such as sand eels getting smaller, breeds like puffins and guillemots may also decline in the future.
It was the noise of thousands of puffins, crisscrossing the sky.
The Isle of May, which would be included in the area of any ban, is home to 25, 000 pairs of puffins and 4, 000 pairs of kittiwakes.
The weather has been blamed for the death of hundreds of birds, including puffins, razorbills and guillemots, in Scotland and northern England, according to the RSPB Scotland.
Mr Clarkson said the figure of 200 dead puffins was probably just a fraction of the actual real losses and the RSPB were "expecting a real hit on the breeding population".
BBC: Hundreds of dead seabirds washed up on East Yorkshire coast
The island is alive with the constant fluttering and cacophony of cawing, flapping and squabbling of more than 70, 000 gannets as well as kittiwakes, Arctic terns, puffins, razorbills and shearwaters.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) looks after the colony, which it describes as a "bustling seabird city, with puffins, black guillemots, razorbills and peregrines some of the special residents".
BBC: Ailsa Craig: Asking price reduced in Irish Sea island sale
The coastal cliffs are home to a mind-boggling array of seabirds, including the ultimate crowd-pleasers: the divinely comedic puffins that arrive for the breeding season in April and depart for warmer climes in mid-August.
But when the puffins get used to human presence, they return to their normal routine, landing close by, their beaks brimming with slivers of transparent- and silver-covered food that contrast brilliantly with the bright red of the beak.
Earlier this year, a separate study, led by Professor Mike Harris from the Centre of Ecology and Hydrology, revealed that puffins from the North Sea's largest breeding colony on the Isle of May ventured much further afield during the winter than previously thought.
Sunken World War II warships in Scapa Flow harbour offer fantastic diving opportunities, or take a ferry to either Westray or Hoy for spectacular cliffside walks and the chance to see puffins and other seabirds at the bird preserves on each island.
应用推荐