Sit among the puffins on an island nobody lives on

Lunga, in the Treshnish Isles west of Mull, is eighty-one hectares of turf and rock. Its village was abandoned in 1857 and the seabirds took the rest: thousands of breeding puffins, with shags, razorbills, guillemots and kittiwakes on the cliffs around them. The island is protected as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and the puffins are there from late April to the first week of August.

Getting there takes most of a day: the ferry from Oban to Mull, a minibus across the island to Ulva Ferry, then a small boat out past Loch na Keal. The landing on Lunga is onto boulders, and the crew hands everyone across. It depends on the weather and the swell, and anyone unsure can stay on board.

The puffins nest in burrows in the turf along the cliff top and let people come within a few feet. Sit still and they carry on as if nobody were there: landing, squabbling, standing in the doorways of their burrows. There are about two hours ashore, which is not enough.