Puffin
£25.00
A lot of lies about herons, from the ‘Lies About Birds’ series (scroll down to read the text). Illustrated with a poor photograph of a paper bird I have made out of old RSPB magazines.
A4 print, mounted (and put in a cellophane bag to prevent escapes).
(Please note that, regretfully, I don’t send work outside of the UK)
1 in stock
“Puffins spend eight months of the year living out at sea as tiny seals called Auks, short for Awkward. This is because, like other seals, they have to negotiate the awkward business of coming ashore to raise their young. They talk about its awkwardness amongst themselves a lot when they come ashore, commenting ‘auuuk’ to each other. The really awkward bit is having to visit a factory on an island in the Outer Hebrides in March to get themselves fitted with a new beak, one that is good for cutting through turf (to make burrows) and that can carry the largest number of sand eels in one go (to feed young). The beak is brightly coloured because the factory owners have a sense of humour. The eye make-up is entirely down to the puffins. They go to all this trouble because the beak means they can efficiently and speedily raise their pufflings (yes, that’s what they’re called) and quickly get back to being tiny seals. They discard the beak and have a lovely time out at sea – until all that awkwardness starts all over again.”
