Puffins, Clown birds of the sea

Photo credit - naturephoto-cz.com

The Puffin Festival...

is a culture and nature festival where participants are given an update on the state of seabird stocks.

It is also a family event for young and old with a concoction of performers and artists from near and far who create a positive experience and festivities.

Welcome to happy festival days in Røst.

http://www.visitnorway.com/en/Product/?pid=62885

The Puffin Festival (Thurs 25th - Sun 28th June 2009)
NO-8064 Røst (aka Rostlandet)
http://www.lundefestivalen.no/

Note: numerous photos & drawings of puffins on this webpage that are copy protected, so you'll have to just go there & see for yourself...

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Photo credit - worldculturepictorial.com

From the Times

May 20, 2006

A bird's eye view of puffins in Norway

It’s 5.45pm on a remote Norwegian island. Time for the puffins to arrive, says Caroline Hendrie

In the far north of Norway legend has it that on the same day each year, at 5.45pm precisely, puffins — hundreds of thousands of them — return to their breeding ground, a steep craggy island off the fishing hamlet of Gjesvaer.

Last year they were 25 minutes late, so just in case they were early this year, there we were, a crowd of locals and tourists, binoculars pointed out to sea and necks craned for the first siting...

Read more of the article at the following link...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/holiday_type/cruises/article721210.ece

Need to know:

Caroline Hendrie travelled with Norwegian Coastal Voyage (...www.hurtigruten.co.uk).

A six- night voyage north, leaving Bergen between July 25 and August 29, costs...
including full board, flights and transfers.

The bird-watching excursion to Gjesvaer costs...

When to go: From now until September — the puffins are particularly visible until mid-July.

Next year’s Return of the Puffins escorted tour, with an onboard ornithologist, leaves on April 9, 2007. (Note when article was written in 2006)

The cost...per person, includes the six-night voyage, one night’s half board at a hotel in Honningsvag, onboard lectures, Gjesvaer bird-watching trip, North Cape excursion, flights and transfers.

Reading: Norway (Lonely Planet...)


Photo credit - birdfinders.co.uk

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Photo credit - mypets.net.au

And sadly (or not for past survivals sake) they bred a special dog, the Lundehund, to hunt them (puffins) in the winter for food, read more here about this rare breed...

http://www.damninteresting.com/the-norwegian-puffin-dog

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Note: All photos above borrowed from Google Images...

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Rost Travel Guide:

Bird Nesting Colonies
The steep and towering islands southwest of the populated island of Røstlandet, are "home" for the largest number of nesting birds in all of Norway, - with approximately one fourth of the country´s seabird population. A "census" taken in 1992 shows a population of 2,5 million adults birds.
During the summer, there are daily boat trips to the nesting colonies. On the island of Vedøya, you can see the remnants of early settlement, showing that the island was probably an old fishing and hunting station. Bird lovers and researchers, both at home and abroad, regularly visit these ornithologically important islands. Moreover, a book about the birds on Røst has been published in Norwegian, English, German and French.

http://www.world66.com/europe/norway/lofotenislands/rost

Note: I'll be on the lookout for this book, in English...

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Ten Things You Should Remember When Touring Norway
By Jonathan Williams

...

9.) Bird Watching
If you're into some nature viewing, then you should go to Norway and see nature unfurl or rather stretch its wings. Find your way into the islands of Lofoten and admire some 87 species birds that flocks its marshes and other bodies of water. Visit the towering island of Rostlandet, home of Norway's nestling birds, and see some 2.5 million adult birds right before your eyes.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Ten-Things-You-Should-Remember-When-Touring-Norway&id=1005861

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More little, most likely entirely, unknown facts about Rost/Rostlandet, Norway...

UFO sighting In 1986 Rostlandet, Norway

Note: while I was looking, why not check out Stavanger too--so here in 1958 a UFO sighting...

4 January 1958 14:30 - Stavanger, Norway - Woodcutter incident.
An object landed, and a very tall man stepped from the machine.

http://www.ufodna.com/uf15/uf2/152285.htm

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