The Puffins of Gull Island

As I mentioned in my first post about my Field Guides’ Newfoundland & Nova Scotia trip the reason I booked the trip in the first place was because I was jealous of Emil Baumbach’s and Birder2011’s trips to Machias Seal Island off of the coast of Maine to see Atlantic Puffins close up.  My fingers weren’t fast enough to book the same boat trip (which drops you off on the island to view the birds from a blind).  So in a fit of frustration I booked the Field Guides’ trip because their trip report said we would see Puffins.

Our opportunity came on the second day of the tour.  Our destination was Gull Island, home to about 600,000 nesting Puffins.  Sailing out of Bay Bull, we saw our first Puffin swimming away from the boat.  As you recall, we saw lots of Common Murre and Razorbills on the rocky portions of the island and I left you with a picture showing those birds on the rocks and hundreds of white dots covering the green vegetation covering portions of Gull Island.  Yep, those dots were all Puffins!  Below is a broader look at the Puffins nesting in the foliage.

As we approached the island the Puffins became more visible – thousands of them scattered across the landscape.  Notice the size of the Puffins compared to a Herring Gull on the center-right of the image.

The boat pulled up within 30 yards of the island and idled to give us some great looks at the Puffins and the nest they create in the ground.

Here’s a solitary Puffin standing on the algae-covered rocks.  Only researchers are allowed on the island so our views were not as close as Emil’s and Birder2011’s but still pretty good.

Puffins were constantly flying on and off of the island and I had time to try some BIF shots.  It’s amazing to me that these squat birds that remind me of penguins can fly!

So my Puffin fix was satisfied with tens-of-thousands of them in sight!  Such interesting birds with their uniquely-colored bills and clown-face.  Definitely worth the trip!  Coming up, a trip to a Northern Gannet colony and some warblers on their breeding grounds.

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