Puffins

When we were finalizing the plans for our New England trip James decided the one thing he needed to see were Puffins. When in first grade he did a report on Puffins and he has been fascinated with them ever since. Puffins used to nest all along the Maine coast years ago, but they were run out of the area by hunters and good old fashioned "progression."

A few years back a researcher convinced scientists in Nova Scotia to let him have 10 nesting pairs of Puffins to see if he could re-introduce the birds in Maine. After thirty-five years of hard planning and hard work, there are now over 100 nesting pairs on Eastern Egg Rock off the coast of New Harbor, ME.

Puffins love the cold and love to spend time in the water. The day we went on our Puffin Cruise it was very overcast and raining, which was supposed to promise a better chance of seeing the birds because they wouldn't feel as vulnerable to predators (the mist/clouds provided a cover). We bundled up in our waterproof attire and off we went on a 1.5 hour tour.

James even got to drive the boat! My take home lesson was how difficult it is to try and take a photo of these birds without a fancy camera while on a moving boat. But, I did get a couple of OK ones, they're posted below. The Puffin Cruise was definitely one of the highlights of our trip!!!