Runde Island, Returning After 18 Years

When I wrote an article about Runde many years ago as a guide for photographers, I had no idea that nearly twenty thousand people would have read it by now. Everyone wanted to see puffins up close, returning from the sea with beaks full of small fish for their chicks. Runde became a hit, even though similarly spectacular places can be found in Great Britain, on the surrounding islands, or in Iceland. But what does Runde look like today?

New Trails

 

Not much has actually changed. The start of the hiking trail to the puffins from the road has now been reinforced – about 300 metres of that steep climb right at the beginning, just to get you warmed up. In fact, most of the marked trails on the island are new as well, paved with beautiful flat stones, so you won't be slogging through mud even in the rain. Lovely little paths.

You could almost say that the 250 metres of elevation gain over two kilometres to the puffin colony at Kaldekloven is a walk in the park. If you're fit and eager to reach the wild sea cliffs, you can even run it.

On the northeast coast, they have built a large visitor centre (Runde Miljøsenter), complete with a museum, restaurant and souvenir shop. You really can't miss it on the southeastern coast – it is by far the largest building on the island, and surely has been for more than 15 years now.

Right next door are fully equipped apartments, one of which we used during our four-day stay. The cottage I normally use for larger groups near the puffin trail was occupied by some friends from the Czech Republic, whom I happened to meet on the island by chance.

 

 

Papuchalk severní (Fratercula arctica) Atlantic puffin, Runde, Norsko
Ondřej Prosický | www.NaturePhoto.cz, Sony ILCE-1, FE 300mm F2.8 GM OSS + 2X Teleconverter, 600.00 mm, f/5.6, @1/1000 s, ISO 250, sobota 12. července 2025 21:27:41, 2025-7-3999.jpg
Terej bílý (Sula bassana) Northern Gannet, Runde, Norsko
Ondřej Prosický | www.NaturePhoto.cz, Sony ILCE-1, FE 300mm F2.8 GM OSS, 300.00 mm, f/8.0, @1/640 s, ISO 400, čtvrtek 10. července 2025 20:47:21, 2025-7-1216.jpg

Especially Early

During the season, and particularly when the puffins are feeding their chicks, the number of visitors on the island has increased considerably.

Nothing like the idyll of 2006, when I could spend almost the entire evening right above the puffin burrows on my own.

These days, if you arrive at the optimal time, when the puffins are returning from the ocean with beaks full of fish, you may find that you cannot even see the comical little birds. There may be two rows of nature lovers and photographers standing in front of you.

Your only chance is to wait until someone leaves – usually only after the puffins have stopped flying – or until it gets dark, about an hour after sunset. When I waited until I had the place to myself, the last person did not leave until half an hour after midnight.

Only then did I really get to enjoy the company of the puffins!

If you want to photograph puffins in flight, with beaks full of fish, in the best possible light and conditions, you have only one option: claim the ideal spot – barely two metres wide, with room for perhaps five people – many hours in advance.

 
Papuchalk severní (Fratercula arctica) Atlantic puffin, Runde, Norsko
Ondřej Prosický | www.NaturePhoto.cz, Sony ILCE-1, FE 300mm F2.8 GM OSS + 2X Teleconverter, 600.00 mm, f/6.3, @1/1600 s, ISO 400, pátek 11. července 2025 21:43:39, 2025-7-2054.jpg
Racek tříprstý (Rissa tridactyla), Kittiwake, Runde, Norsko
Ondřej Prosický | www.NaturePhoto.cz, Sony ILCE-1, FE 300mm F2.8 GM OSS, 300.00 mm, f/3.5, @1/25600 s, ISO 500, pátek 11. července 2025 22:11:29, 2025-7-2464.jpg

At Sea

With Anička, we also took a boat out to sea around the island. We managed to get in touch with Johan, the same man I went out on the water with back in 2006, photographing the nesting colonies from below the cliffs.

It is the only way to photograph European shags, little auks and thick-billed guillemots. And you can actually enjoy the northern gannets much more from the boat than you can from the top of the cliffs. You can also get creative with a wide-angle lens – especially when Johan starts feeding the hordes of black-legged kittiwakes.

But I’ll be honest: this is only for people who have seafaring in their genes and a bit of practice photographing birds in flight from a rocking boat in rough seas. Not only will you often struggle to even get the birds into the viewfinder, but you may also end up throwing up right onto the backs of the puffins gathering on the water below the cliffs before 7 p.m.

Even though it was a beautiful day, the sea was pretty rough, especially along the southwestern coast of the island beneath the cliffs.

Racek stříbřitý, Larus argentatus, European herring gull,Runde, Norsko
Ondřej Prosický | www.NaturePhoto.cz, Sony ILCE-1, FE 70-200mm F4 Macro G OSS II, 85.00 mm, f/4.0, @1/3200 s, ISO 400, pátek 11. července 2025 22:46:23, 2025-7-2830.jpg
Terej bílý (Sula bassana) Northern Gannet, Runde, Norsko
Ondřej Prosický | www.NaturePhoto.cz, Sony ILCE-1, FE 300mm F2.8 GM OSS, 300.00 mm, f/3.5, @1/2500 s, ISO 400, pátek 11. července 2025 22:08:22, 2025-7-2421.jpg

Get Some Beer

There is still nowhere to shop on the island. You have to go to Fosnavåg, or stop in Ulsteinvik on your way from Ålesund Airport (Vigra). There are decent grocery stores where you can stock up on everything you need. Just be careful: even though the shop is open until 10 p.m., beer (and other alcohol) can only be sold until 8 p.m. As the lady at the checkout reminded me when I laid out my IPAs and Ales at 8:08 p.m. – and she immediately took them away…

Accommodation options on the island are limited. Those with a tent have an advantage, or ideally a campervan – there are plenty of them all over the island. I dare say that most of the people you meet up on the hill are staying on the island in their own motorhomes.

I think that despite the crowds, Runde is still well worth a visit. A few days are enough to see most of the iconic seabirds of the north – right at their breeding colonies and against some spectacular scenery.

If you fancy joining me for a photography trip, you can come with me to Runde next year, 1–5 July 2027.

Ústřičník velký (Heamatopus ostralegus), Oystercatcher, Runde, Norsko
Ondřej Prosický | www.NaturePhoto.cz, Sony ILCE-1, FE 300mm F2.8 GM OSS + 2X Teleconverter, 600.00 mm, f/5.6, @1/320 s, ISO 250, čtvrtek 10. července 2025 13:48:11, 2025-7-1140.jpg
Papuchalk severní (Fratercula arctica) Atlantic puffin, Runde, Norsko
Ondřej Prosický | www.NaturePhoto.cz, Sony ILCE-1, FE 300mm F2.8 GM OSS, 300.00 mm, f/5.0, @1/500 s, ISO 1600, středa 9. července 2025 23:40:50, 2025-7-0523.jpg
Husice liščí (Tadorna tadorna) Common shelduck, Runde, Norsko
Ondřej Prosický | www.NaturePhoto.cz, Sony ILCE-1, FE 300mm F2.8 GM OSS + 2X Teleconverter, 600.00 mm, f/10, @1/320 s, ISO 400, čtvrtek 10. července 2025 13:00:25, 2025-7-0967.jpg
Racek tříprstý (Rissa tridactyla) Kittiwake, Runde, Norsko
Ondřej Prosický | www.NaturePhoto.cz, Sony ILCE-1, FE 300mm F2.8 GM OSS, 300.00 mm, f/3.5, @1/1250 s, ISO 500, pátek 11. července 2025 22:10:44, 2025-7-2453.jpg
Alka malá (Alca torda) Razorbill, Runde, Norsko
Ondřej Prosický | www.NaturePhoto.cz, Sony ILCE-1, FE 300mm F2.8 GM OSS, 300.00 mm, f/2.8, @1/160 s, ISO 500, sobota 12. července 2025 0:00:33, 2025-7-3131.jpg
Papuchalk severní (Fratercula arctica) Atlantic puffin, Runde, Norsko
Ondřej Prosický | www.NaturePhoto.cz, Sony ILCE-1, FE 300mm F2.8 GM OSS, 300.00 mm, f/4.0, @1/1000 s, ISO 250, sobota 12. července 2025 21:19:30, 2025-7-3951.jpg
Racek bouřní (Larus canus) common gull, Runde, Norsko
Ondřej Prosický | www.NaturePhoto.cz, Sony ILCE-1, FE 70-200mm F4 Macro G OSS II, 116.00 mm, f/4.0, @1/1600 s, ISO 500, pátek 11. července 2025 21:17:53, 2025-7-1843.jpg
Chaluha velká (Stercorarius skua) Great skua,Runde, Norsko
Ondřej Prosický | www.NaturePhoto.cz, Sony ILCE-1, FE 300mm F2.8 GM OSS, 300.00 mm, f/2.8, @1/125 s, ISO 1000, sobota 12. července 2025 1:51:23, 2025-7-3680.jpg
Alkoun úzkozobý (Uria aalge) Common guillemot, Runde, Norsko
Ondřej Prosický | www.NaturePhoto.cz, Sony ILCE-1, FE 300mm F2.8 GM OSS, 300.00 mm, f/3.5, @1/4000 s, ISO 400, pátek 11. července 2025 22:07:32, 2025-7-2389.jpg
Papuchalk severní (Fratercula arctica) Atlantic puffin, Runde, Norsko
Ondřej Prosický | www.NaturePhoto.cz, Sony ILCE-1, Sony FE 24mm F1.4 GM (SEL24F14GM), 24.00 mm, f/2.0, @1/30 s, ISO 500, sobota 12. července 2025 0:42:39, 2025-7-3389.jpg
Papuchalk severní (Fratercula arctica) Atlantic puffin, Runde, Norsko
Ondřej Prosický | www.NaturePhoto.cz, Sony ILCE-1, FE 300mm F2.8 GM OSS, 300.00 mm, f/3.2, @1/2000 s, ISO 250, sobota 12. července 2025 21:49:06, 2025-7-4052.jpg
Chaluha velká (Stercorarius skua) Great skua, Runde, Norsko
Ondřej Prosický | www.NaturePhoto.cz, Sony ILCE-1, FE 300mm F2.8 GM OSS, 300.00 mm, f/2.8, @1/10 s, ISO 640, sobota 12. července 2025 1:59:00, 2025-7-3700.jpg
Papuchalk severní (Fratercula arctica) Atlantic puffin, Runde, Norsko
Ondřej Prosický | www.NaturePhoto.cz, Sony ILCE-1, FE 300mm F2.8 GM OSS, 300.00 mm, f/3.2, @1/2000 s, ISO 2500, středa 9. července 2025 23:23:00, 2025-7-0415.jpg
Terej bílý (Sula bassana) Northern gannet, Runde, Norsko
Ondřej Prosický | www.NaturePhoto.cz, Sony ILCE-1, FE 300mm F2.8 GM OSS, 300.00 mm, f/3.5, @1/1000 s, ISO 200, pátek 11. července 2025 22:16:45, 2025-7-2586.jpg
Papuchalk severní (Fratercula arctica) Atlantic puffin, Runde, Norsko
Ondřej Prosický | www.NaturePhoto.cz, Sony ILCE-1, FE 300mm F2.8 GM OSS, 300.00 mm, f/4.0, @1/1000 s, ISO 250, sobota 12. července 2025 21:20:37, 2025-7-3975.jpg
Photographer
Ondřej Prosický
Ondřej Prosický

focuses on wildlife photography. He wants to capture the behavior of animals in their natural surroundings. Photo workshops and expeditions focusing on nature have been organizing since 2006, publishing in the media and having more than four dozen author exhibitions.

Among his greatest achievements is participation in the finals of the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year photography competition. He has been a member of the Association of Professional Photographers of the Czech Republic since 2009. In May 2011, the European Federation of Professional Photographers awarded Ondřej Prosické the QEP (Qualified European Photographer) title in the Wildlife Photography category, and in the same year he received the FEP Landscape Golden Camera award in Brussels. The most recent awards are the nominations and main prizes of the Czech Press Photo, Czech Nature Photo and the Festival de l'Oiseau et de la Nature in France.

Vloženo
31. 07. 2025 , categories: travels, europe
Keywords
NorskoNorsko Runde papuchalk terej Norsko Evropa racek alka alkoun chaluha moře
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