Photographing puffins in Runde, Norway

I wanted to see puffins in Norway, and it was not quite as simple as I first thought. The information I found in the net was incomplete, outdated and partly contradictory. After visiting Runde and photographing the puffins there, here is what I know.

There are puffins in Runde, but, they are not always there. It is not that you just go there and see them. They are in Runde only during the breeding period, which starts sometime in late May. In 2026, they weren't there on May 18, but they got there a little bit later.
The baby puffins are in their nests in a burrow, and cannot be seen. Their parents spend the day fishing at the sea, and come back in the evening. On June 4, 2026 they were coming back starting at about 8pm. So to see puffins, you go to Runde in the evening. At daytime there are no puffins to be seen. You might see them early in the morning, but I could not find out anywhere any information how early would you have to be there, and would they just fly out to the sea and not be visible any longer.
To be at Runde at 8pm and to get back to your accomodation at a reasonable time, it is best to stay somewhere close. We stayed at Østra, which is about 55 minute drive from Runde. Nearby Volde is just as good. There are a couple of hotels in this area. There is a camping ground in Runde itself, and some other accommodations in the neighboring islands, with less than 30 minute drive from Runde, but those are not very practical for anything else than visiting the puffins in Runde. So I would say that staying in Østra or Volde is best for most visitors. The nearby Ålesund is a 2-hour drive away, and involves a ferry, which runs infrequently at night. So Ålesund might be OK, but you should then expect to be back in your hotel room at midnight or later.
After crossing the bridge to Runde, you continue on the main road to the right/east and then the north side of the island. After a very short tunnel you reach the visitor parking lot. You park your car there. (Unlike advised by some in the net, you cannot park at the end of the road: that area is only for turning your car around, and parking is not allowed there.)
From the parking lot it is a couple of minutes walk to the path going uphill toward the puffins. The path can be clearly seen from below.
First the path is quite steep, but it is first covered with asphalt, and easy to walk with no risk of slipping. Later the path becomes gravel or flat stones. There may be water and mud on the path, so better to choose suitable footwear.
A little bit higher up, almost on the top of the ridge, there is a junction: for puffins, turn to the left. For the lighthouse and the gannets, turn to the right. (Earlier, the gannets had their nests on top of the hill, and they were aggressive towards people, but they have now moved elsewhere.)
Once you reach the cliffs on the west-southwest side of the island, you can see a short wooden railing. Go there, and continue down to the fenced area with boulders below. That's the viewing area for the puffins. Most of the nests are at the steep grassy hillside below the viewing area.
You will see puffins landing on the grassy slopes below you, as well as puffins arriving in the area. Most of the puffins are far away, 50 or 100 meters, but some will be right below the southern end of viewing area (on the left), just a couple of meters/yards below the fence.
Photography: As it is late in the evening, and it is likely to be cloudy (or even rainy), it is best to use a fast lens to get good photos. f/2.8 or f/4 tele lens would be optimal, but no problem if your lens is a bit slower.
Since some of the puffins are very close to the viewing area, the lens does not have to be that long. For the closest birds 300mm or 400mm is perfectly OK, and you could be fine even with a 200mm lens. I had a 600mm lens, which was more than long enough. The optimal lens would probably have been a 400mm f/2.8, at least on that evening, as it was cloudy and getting even darker after 9pm.