Hullo!!! Today we are on the hunt for puffins!
Not literally "hunting" puffins of course... but trying to meet these little cutie pies.
I've never seen a puffin before...
But this is obviously a well-known site!
Let's see what we can find.
Oooh, this is pretty!!!
Some people nearby said they saw a puffin!!! We looked and...
Um... that is NOT a puffin!!! No orange beak... almost totally black with just a white bit of the wing... it's a Black Guillemot. Hmph.
But that... over there!! That is a puffin!!!
But there are supposed to be more of them around here...
Let's head that way, past that strange looking rock...
Over there looks good...
It's so beautiful here!
Ahhh!!! It's a puffin!!!
And another one...
oooh... they are so pretty.
We learned that this is their breeding plummage...
And that they come here to breed and nest... but the rest of the year, they are off in the middle of the ocean, floating around and eating little fish.
Apparently they are not great fliers... they often crash land in anything above a breeze... although they are little torpedos in the water.
Hmmm... seems we are doing with puffins what we did with lupines earlier!
Puffins galore!!! They lay one egg every season, in a nest in a burrow. They will often steal rabbit burrows if they can!
A puffling... oh my goodness... cuteness magnified!
Oooh... a couple more puffins!!!
The males and females are beary similar and a bit hard to tell apart... The male is a bit larger and perhaps a bit brighter.
In the winter, when they are off at sea, they lose a lot of their colourful features and turn into rather dull looking birds - probably so predators have more trouble spotting them!
Well, that was cool!! But it's not the only cool thing about this place...
It's the self-proclaimed Root Cellar Capital of the World!!
Bet you didn't know that was even a thing... neither did we!
They are made out of stacked stone, and lined with a coating of mortar. They always face east, because apparently an east wind never carries frost...
Oooh... let's take a peek inside!!
Errrr... ummm....
You know what... why don't YOU go in and scope it out....
This entrance way is called a Linhay and in the back there...
Are big crates (called pounds) for holding vegetables and stuff.
Oooh... another one!
OK... this one I am going to go into...
Ooohh...
Well, this is cool. Apparently Elliston (the place where we are) has over 130 root cellars...
From the backside... you'd never know they are there!
Those little fenced areas used to be vegetable gardens... maybe to keep sheep out?
Well, that was exciting... where to now??
Oh... another root cellar... ummm...
Ok. Yes, they are cute... as are the lupines and the puffins but... we are done with root cellars I think!
... little black berries... which we think is Crowberry. They are edible later in the season... we tried one and spat it out... too astringent right now.
And... wow... more root cellars... sigh... The oldest root cellar in Elliston was built in 1839 and is still in use today!
We learned a lot from some info plaques but then I saw it...
This little place is called Sandy Cove!!!!!
I'm Sandy!!!! I have to go there!!!
And... here we are except...
It looks pretty rocky to me...
Oooh... we just had to climb over the rock berm and...
There is a sandy cove here!
Ahem... named after moi perhaps??? Well... at least now I can say...
Sandy was at Sandy Cove...
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