April 5, 1998
Puffin paradise:
Maine cruises puts bird watchers in world-class seat
Copyright © 2001 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
American puffins rear young on a few Maine coastal islands each summer, creating what serious bird watchers consider the holy grail of birding.
A top spot for seeing this tropical-looking creature lies on Machias Seal Island. Two hours by boat from Jonesport, the island is so famous in bird-watching circles that it draws folks from across the world.
Now is the time to make reservations for puffin cruises that begin Memorial Weekend and run through August.
It can be that difficult to get a berth, particularly on weekends. Late June is prime for watching puffins with fish in their mouths as they return from the ocean to feed their young.
This puffin trip thrills me because customers pile onto a lobster boat and make the ride to Machias Seal Island. Many of the people have fancy photography equipment and Zeiss binoculars for viewing this bird of birds while others just go for the experience of traveling in a boat beyond sight of land for a morning of excitement.
The last time I visited Machias Seal Island, a cloudless sky looked down on this treeless, 15- to 20-acre island. Fog hung over it, creating an eerie light. As we scrambled into a small open boat with an outboard for the ride to the island, Capt. John Norton warned us to hold our tripods or a stick over our head. Good advice. Once on the island, hundreds of terns flew over us, occasionally diving within inches of our skulls. They were nesting and protecting their territory, fair enough, but it looked like a scene out of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds."
Bill Silliker, Jr., a nationally reknowned wildlife photographer, accompanied me to a blind on the edge of the ledges. This was a long, narrow building made from 2x4s and plywood. Naturally, it had a roof to keep flying birds from pooping on someone's head.
Silliker and I shot photos of this 12- to 13-inch bird that looks like a black and white parrot. In fact, early settlers called them sea parrots. This chunky bird has a black collar and back and white chest, resembling the color scheme of a penguin. The bill has stripes of rich red, steel blue and yellow.
Puffins, a solemn bird with the same demeanor of a woodcock, look taller than one foot because they have a big head. Razorbill auks also inhabit the island.
Puffins look tropical, but winter in the North Atlantic where they feed on fish. On this particular island, they caught herring for their young who wereliving in burrows in the ground on the edge of the ledges.
Despite the bird's chunky appearance and huge bill, it is a wonderful fisher.
Captain Barna B. Norton (Capt. John's dad) offers round-trips to Machias Seal Island, which costs $50 per person. His lobster boat, the "Chief," leaves at 7 a.m seven days per week. Many people get a room in a motel in this area to avoid a long drive in the predawn.
For more information, call Capt. Barna B. Norton at 207-497-5933 or write RR 1, Box 990, Jonesport 04649.
Ken Allen of Hallowell is an outdoors editor, writer and photographer whose work has appeared in numerous publications. He writes an Outdoors column for the Central Maine Newspapers.