Everyday I'm Pufflin' (#137)
I'm not sorry for that pun. Or: snaps from a birding trip to a tiny Canadian island in the Atlantic Ocean.
As part of our pandemic-inspired New Brunswick staycation in 2020, Ben and I were fortunate enough to get seats on a tour boat to Machias Seal Island - home to a lone lighthouse keeper, and several types of migratory birds, including 5000 pairs of Atlantic puffins!
In addition to being highly knowledgeable and experienced, Sea Watch Tours were also good at keeping us safe - e.g., mandatory masks onboard, hand sanitizer. Our small group also took turns in the blinds, so we only were in a blind with other members of our household bubble. While this may have meant less time overall in a blind, I'm not sure how many more photos I could have taken.
After our time in the blinds, we waited on the pier for the other group to have their turn. We were able to get great fishing shots of the hungry puffins, circling back from their trips to the water back to their nests.
Once back on the boat, the crew took us to a nearby island covered in hundreds of harbour and grey seals. A longer lens would have been good here, but luckily a few seals were rather inquisitive.
It's an amazing day adventure, and I'd highly recommend it. Sea Watch Tours was excellent; in addition to the points above, they were extremely good at keeping us up-to-date on plans, and rescheduling when our initial booking was cancelled due to wind and fog.
Great post! I love puffins - 'clowns of the sea' - they're delightful creatures.
In 2002 while on a trip to the Isle of Coll - one of the isles of Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland - a group of us chartered a small boat to take us to the uninhabited island of Lunga which was home to huge numbers of puffins. It was late spring, and the whole place was a sea of bluebells - the scent was incredible - and we just sat on the ground and marvelled at the puffins which would just come up to us to check us out! There are no predators - or people, very often - on the island, and the birds had no fear whatsoever, and such immense curiosity. It was an amazing experience, and I treasure the memory.
Your post has brought it all back to me - thank you so much!
Over here, what you call a 'blind' is a 'hide' - I didn't know you had a different word for it across the pond. That's so interesting!
Wow stunning photos!
I also highly encourage the incredible punning :D