The view from the observation deck is breathtaking but not for the faint-hearted. (Picture: Tim Earl, 1010545)

NOT only does Rathlin Island’s ‘Puffin Bus’ take you to the RSPB’s puffin reserve, it is also driven by a puffin.

Dennis, the driver, seems quite normal as he takes parties from the harbour to the reserve but within minutes of arriving he dons a huge puffin outfit which he wears around the interpretation centre and for the return trip.

He helps make Rathlin, Northern Ireland, one of the quirkiest islands I have ever visited.

It overlooks Malin Head, which is in Southern Ireland and is its most northerly point, has golden hares which should turn white in winter but don’t, and the concrete work for its ‘upside down’ lighthouse (the light is at the base of a six-storey accommodation block) puts our German fortifications to shame.

The concrete steps leading to the generator room halfway to the light give access to stunning views of seabirds which nest on the cliffs all around the lighthouse.

A walkway around the generator room provides a viewing platform down on a vast colony of guillemots while the cliffs have nesting fulmars, puffins, razorbills and kittiwakes almost within touching distance.

The statistics are astonishing: 80,000 guillemots, 20,000 kittiwakes, 10,000 razorbills (a significant proportion of the North Atlantic population of this species), 1,000 fulmars and 700 puffins nest around Rathlin West lighthouse.

Watching them is not for the faint-hearted. The platform is 220ft above the waves, which are straight down.

This accounts for the strange lighthouse. The beam had to be placed no higher than 150ft above the sea, which made placing the tower behind and above it a logical move.

When observers stand on the viewing platform they are level with the highest part of the accommodation tower.

They are also greeted by a full-time RSPB warden and a team of volunteers, who point out the various species and explain the importance of the colonies.

The RSPB is proud of the work done on Rathlin. Not only are they protecting the seabird colonies, but islanders like Dennis gain valuable employment at the seabird centre and from the crowds who come over on day trips or for longer stays.

The ferry from Ballycastle (close to the Giant’s Causeway on the Northern Irish coast) brings day-trippers and those who stay a little longer.

Harbour seals are found on the rocks around Rathlin Island. (Picture: Tim Earl, 1010544)

There is a rather smart hotel, the Manor House, which became famous when manager Damien McFaul cancelled a lunch reservation for Prince Edward and his wife Sophie after the Northern Ireland Office refused to give further information about a secret ‘VIP booking’ they had made, and the nearby McCuaig’s Bar, where the couple had a pub lunch instead.

Besides the seabirds, Rathlin is also home to eider ducks (the down of which is stuffed into high-quality anoraks and duvets), buzzards, choughs and ravens.

Islands do strange things to rabbits and hares. Rabbits become inbred and many black offspring are the result – Alderney is a good example of this – while inbred mountain hares produce a few golden babies.

Mountain hares at high altitude or more northerly climes turn white in winter, the better to blend in with their snow-covered habitat.

This is not the case on Rathlin, where it is considered lucky to see a golden animal… the group I took there saw two.

We also saw the early purple and heath-spotted orchids which flower in the spring, grey and harbour seals (the latter smaller and prettier than the greys), with healthy populations of skylarks and lapwings.

Black guillemots are found in the harbour area, making the set of breeding British auks (the puffin family).

They all have different breeding strategies.

Puffins nest in burrows and desert their chick when it is twice the adults’ size but still covered in white down. The fat reserves are converted to feather over a three-week period, after which the young bird, still unable to fly, bumbles down to the sea (on Rathlin they fall down the cliff!) and paddles out into the Atlantic, eventually catching up with the adult flocks for the winter.

Razorbills nest under boulders and their chicks are fed until they can fly off with the adults.

Guillemots nest on tiny, narrow ledges, often high above the sea. Their eggs are oval and roll in tight circles if kicked by arriving or departing adults, rather than falling into the sea.

The chicks leave the ledges when their flight feathers are just starting to grow, hit the sea with a plop and dive to avoid predators such as gulls.

They remain with a parent (usually the male, which moults all its flight feathers and thus becomes flightless too) which feeds and protects the fledgling from attack as they head far out into the ocean.

Black guillemots nest in holes, often in harbour walls, and remain on the breeding grounds summer and winter.Strong Atlantic currents sweep microscopic food from the depths to the surface around Rathlin and there is a blooming of life in the summer.

This starts a food chain which includes fish that the auks feed on.