Puffin washed ashore in East Lothian was Scotland's oldest at grand age of 38
A 38-year-old puffin that washed up on a beach in East Lothian was the oldest ever recorded on the Scottish mainland, experts have confirmed.
The Atlantic puffin was originally ringed at West Wideopens, one of the Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast, as a chick on 29 June 1984.
Its discovery on the shore at Dunbar on March 22 means 13,780 days had passed between ringing and the bird being found.
The puffin is thought to have been part of the population on NatureScot's Isle of May National Nature Reserve (NNR) in the outer Firth of Forth, and may have succumbed after spending the winter out at sea.
A British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) spokesman confirmed the puffin was "definitely the oldest for mainland Scotland" and second only to a bird on Orkney that was recorded at 38 years, 11 months and 22 days.
David Steel, NatureScot's reserve manager on the Isle of May, hailed the "amazing discovery", adding: "At 38 years old, this bird certainly had a good life. In general Puffins live between 30-35 years but it just shows the importance of bird ringing as details of longevity can be revealed like in this individual."
Thousands of puffins have returned to the Isle of May for this year's breeding season. More than 40,000 pairs will eventually make their nests in burrows on the UK's third largest puffin colony, which lies five miles off the coast of Fife. The island is open to visitors daily and all trips have to be booked in advance.