Skip to content

Write for Puffin Row

We publish contributed field notes that help people watch UK coastal wildlife well. If you know a stretch of coast, a species or a piece of the rules better than most, we would like to hear from you.

Topics we would like to see

  • Identification problems in the field: terns, skuas, shearwaters, winter divers and grebes, gulls by age
  • Honest guides to a seabird colony or viewpoint, including access, parking and how the site handles disturbance
  • Seal and cetacean watching from land on a particular coast
  • Getting started with seabird counts, beached bird surveys and other recording
  • Binoculars, telescopes and long lenses, explained for coastal conditions, without sales talk
  • Wildlife photography that keeps its distance
  • Coastal conservation, sandeels, plastics, bird flu and island biosecurity, for a general reader
  • Low-impact travel to wildlife sites, including accessibility

What we decline

  • Anything that encourages getting closer, such as nest locations for sensitive species or tips for flushing birds
  • Advertorial, thinly disguised boat-trip or product promotion, and lists of "best" anything without first-hand reasoning
  • Articles written for search engines, or generated text that nobody has checked in the field
  • Gambling, adult, pharmaceutical, crypto and payday lending content, and links to those sites
  • Topics with no connection to wildlife, the coast or the outdoors

Length and format

Most field notes run from 900 to 1,500 words. Answer the reader's question early. Send plain text or a shared document, with links to the sources for any rule, date or figure. Photographs must be your own or carry a licence that allows reuse, and must show animals that were not disturbed to get the picture.

Original work and disclosure

  • Your article must be original, unpublished elsewhere and your own work.
  • Tell us about any commercial interest, sponsor or client connected with the piece. We will state it on the page.
  • Links must help the reader. We may remove or mark any we think do not, and we mark paid or sponsored links in line with search engine rules.
  • We edit for clarity and accuracy, and we will send you material changes before publication.

How to pitch

Email [email protected] with the subject line "Field note pitch". Tell us the question your article answers, why you are the person to answer it, a rough outline, and two or three sources you plan to use. A link to previous writing helps. Please do not send a finished piece until we have talked about it.