[identity profile] parrot-knight.livejournal.com 2007-05-17 07:35 pm (UTC)(link)
How civilized they appear...!

[identity profile] wellinghall.livejournal.com 2007-05-17 07:37 pm (UTC)(link)
They were certainly very friendly.

Creatrix adds that she wouldn't call scratching your chin with foot "civilised".

[identity profile] parrot-knight.livejournal.com 2007-05-17 07:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Is that what it's doing...?

[identity profile] wellinghall.livejournal.com 2007-05-17 07:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Yep - having a good old scratch.

[identity profile] ladyofastolat.livejournal.com 2007-05-17 08:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, what else is it supposed to scatch its chin with? A fork? :-)

I thought it was Morris dancing.

[identity profile] wellinghall.livejournal.com 2007-05-17 08:06 pm (UTC)(link)
If it's going to scratch its chin at all, it should do so in the privacy of its own burrow!

[identity profile] ladyofastolat.livejournal.com 2007-05-17 08:11 pm (UTC)(link)
You mean you've never ever scratched your chin in public? What, never? ;-)

Actually, I take it back. They're Molly dancing, in both pictures.

[identity profile] wellinghall.livejournal.com 2007-05-17 08:12 pm (UTC)(link)
"Well, hardly ever!"

Or - oh, I have, it's just not the sort of thing a well-brought-up young puffin should do.

(Mind you, having heard what puffins get up too, there isn't much I wouldn't put past them).

[identity profile] ladyofastolat.livejournal.com 2007-05-17 08:21 pm (UTC)(link)
But... But... *blinks in bafflement* I thought puffins published nice, wholesome children's books. At least, that's what they told me when I was a member of the Puffin Club. Do you mean to tell me that they were roping me - poor innocent child that I was - into a club built on seediness and uncivilised behaviour? If so, Something Should Be Done About It. From Outraged, (formerly) of Cheltenham Spa.

[identity profile] wellinghall.livejournal.com 2007-05-17 08:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Puffins are essentially monogamous. Each year, the female comes back to the burrow first, and clears it out, evicting any rabbits who have taken up residence over the winter. Then the male arrives.

If the male doesn't turn up on time, however, the female will take a toyboy, and string him along for a little while. If the original male turns up very late, having spent too much time larking it up with the boys, he gets thrown out on his ear, and the toyboy becomes the new mate. However, if the original male is just a bit late, it's the toyboy who gets shown the entrance to the burrow.

[identity profile] firin.livejournal.com 2007-05-17 08:52 pm (UTC)(link)
I can relate to that.

[identity profile] lil-shepherd.livejournal.com 2007-05-17 07:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, fantastic stuff!

[identity profile] wellinghall.livejournal.com 2007-05-17 08:14 pm (UTC)(link)
We hoped that people would like them :-)
(deleted comment)

[identity profile] wellinghall.livejournal.com 2007-05-17 08:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Creatrix thought they were a gentleman puffin and a lady puffin.
sally_maria: (Timeheart)

[personal profile] sally_maria 2007-05-17 08:02 pm (UTC)(link)
What lovely pictures. :-) Thank you for posting them.

[identity profile] wellinghall.livejournal.com 2007-05-17 08:15 pm (UTC)(link)
It was our pleasure!

(Well, taking the photographs was our pleasure - specifically, mine for the top one, and Creatrix's for the bottom one. Posting them was mine).

[identity profile] rustica.livejournal.com 2007-05-17 08:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Omg, they are so cyuuuute :). I want one. And that first picture is just crying out to be stolen and used as an icon.

Not by me of course. Oh no.

(Maybe, I might be allowed, if I give credit? :D)

[identity profile] wellinghall.livejournal.com 2007-05-18 06:29 am (UTC)(link)
Sure!

Chin Scratching ? - Piffle

[identity profile] the-marquis.livejournal.com 2007-05-17 08:55 pm (UTC)(link)
What rot some of your comments talk, that is a puffin doing its 'warm up' stretches before going off for a swim like any professional athlete :p

Re: Chin Scratching ? - Piffle

[identity profile] wellinghall.livejournal.com 2007-05-21 07:27 am (UTC)(link)
Well, they'd certainly be advised to warm-up before flying, given the rate at which they flap their wings!

[identity profile] miss-t-ide.livejournal.com 2007-05-17 09:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Excellent photos of beautiful birds.

[identity profile] wellinghall.livejournal.com 2007-05-21 07:26 am (UTC)(link)
Thnak you!

[identity profile] mrkinch.livejournal.com 2007-05-18 02:36 am (UTC)(link)
Wheeeee! These are delightful.

[identity profile] wellinghall.livejournal.com 2007-05-21 07:25 am (UTC)(link)
I'm glad you like them :-)

[identity profile] brightlywoven.livejournal.com 2007-05-18 06:02 am (UTC)(link)
Oh! They have sad and old looking eyes!

[identity profile] helflaed.livejournal.com 2007-05-18 09:00 am (UTC)(link)
I'd never thought of it like that.

[identity profile] wellinghall.livejournal.com 2007-05-21 07:24 am (UTC)(link)
Just what I thought.

[identity profile] wellinghall.livejournal.com 2007-05-21 07:28 am (UTC)(link)
I hadn't noticed it in real life - but you're right, in the photos, they do.

[identity profile] dreiviertel.livejournal.com 2007-05-18 10:05 am (UTC)(link)
Nice pics!

[identity profile] wellinghall.livejournal.com 2007-05-21 07:21 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you!

[identity profile] bouncy-elf.livejournal.com 2007-05-18 07:37 pm (UTC)(link)
They really *are* that colourful! It's amazing how birds turn out...So pretty and poised.

[identity profile] wellinghall.livejournal.com 2007-05-21 07:22 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, they are, but it's hard to believe until you see them "in the beak" for the first time.
ext_39476: Found it in an lj-friend's comment (Andre Nel)

[identity profile] ajat.livejournal.com 2007-05-28 07:36 pm (UTC)(link)
YESSSS ! Got to these at last ! Ooooooooo, lovely !

:)

Thanks !!!

[identity profile] wellinghall.livejournal.com 2007-05-28 08:05 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm glad you like them :-)