It's puffin time again!

Puffin on Gull Island, Witless Bay

It's that time of year again -- the puffins and other seabirds have returned to their colonies around the coasts of Atlantic Canada and Maine. There are many places around the region to see these small, sturdy birds, but two locations stand out: the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve for sheer numbers, and the Puffin Island at Elliston for land-based observation.


The Witless Bay Ecological Reserve lies south of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Witless Bay takes its name from an early family of settlers, the Whittles family; over the years the name has been corrupted to its present form. The four islands of the reserve lie just off the shore, from north to south they are Gull Island, Green Island, Great Island, and the fancifully named Peepee Island, whose name is said to be from the distinctive aroma that wafts from it in summer.

Typical "puffin weather" at Elliston

There are boat tours that allow for a closer approach to the islands; to protect the bird life, only those operators granted special permits are allowed to travel through the reserve. Bay Bulls is the primary starting point for these excursions, while operators can also be found in the town of Witless Bay and in Mobile, just to the south. All Witless Bay photos in this post are thanks to Captain Wayne's Marine Excursions of Bay Bulls. Other operators can be found here.


Puffins are true pelagics: they land on these rocky islands solely to mate and rear their young, spending the remainder of the year on the open sea. They burrow into the dirt of the island, or on rockier sites use narrow clefts in the rock for burrows. The pairs bond for life, returning to the same burrow year after year, although "divorces" are said to occur if one mate is a less-than-stellar provider. They're not the only seabirds that nest in the Reserve; there are also black-legged kittiwakes, common and thick-billed murres, black guillemots, and huge numbers of Leach's storm petrels among others.

Burrow entrance

Elliston, located on the Bonavista Peninsula, is the self-styled Root Cellar Capital of North America due to the large number of these storage structures that can be found there. Just outside the community is a headland accessed by a rocky trail that leads to a viewing point overlooking a small island that houses a breeding colony of puffins. The unusual thing about this spot is that when the weather and wind are right (often damp weather and a southeast wind) the puffins will land near the viewing area on the headland itself. This makes for some incredible up-close viewing experiences.

The puffins will be around until late August, with a few lingering into September, so there's plenty of opportunity for a good look during the summer months. Happy viewing!

The Vital Link

Around the shores of Newfoundland and Labrador, summer brings a remarkable surge of life; millions of seabirds build their nests, whales arrive to feed and put on collective tons of essential fat, and most of them rely, in whole or in part, on a single food source: the caplin (or capelin). This small forage fish, Mallotus villosus, is a member of the smelt family. They come in to follow the dense clouds of plankton found in coastal waters, and spawn on the sandy or fine-gravel beaches. Not only the whales and seabirds but squid, mackerel, seals and cod consume caplin at least to some degree.

The caplin roll in onto the beaches in vast schools, the females laying their eggs which are then fertilized by the males. There is a very high mortality rate at this phase of their lives -- nearly all the males die, while a small percentage of the females survive to spawn another year; the eggs remain on the beaches, looking like grains of golden sand, waiting for the next high cycle of tides to carry the young to sea. Traditionally, the dead or "spent" caplin were gathered by residents of coastal communities and dug into the soil as garden fertilizer. A comparatively small quantity were also harvested for eating fresh or for salting and drying.

Today, though, there is a commercial fishery for this vital link in the food web, despite opposition from those who believe that because of its vital role in the life cycle of so many species, the caplin should not be subject to commercial harvest. If you happen to be in Newfoundland when the caplin are spawning, the scene is definitely worth a side trip: whales feed offshore, birds dip beneath the surface to feed themselves and their young, and crowds of people head for the beach to cast a net, or simply to watch the spectacle.

A Morning With the Seabirds

You'd definitely have to call it a busman's holiday: on the day following my last Newfoundland Adventure of the 2012 season, I drove to Bay Bulls for a trip with friends. We headed for Captain Wayne's Marine Excursions and boarded the Blackfish 1 for a visit to the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve and a look at the surrounding coastline. After a loop through Island Cove, a look at the sea stacks of Spoon Cove, and a visit to a beautiful sea cave, we struck out for Gull Island, nesting site for thousands of Atlantic puffins, kittiwakes, murres and storm petrels. Light fog was hanging over the area and sea conditions were excellent, with an ocean so calm that the hundreds of birds in the water cast perfect reflections. We travelled slowly alongside Gull Island, pausing to photograph the puffins outside their burrows on the grassy slopes and lounging on the rocks near the water's edge. These photogenic little birds seemed to be in a particularly cooperative mood, posing for us as we slipped past. Although the fledging season is here and many pufflings have already left their burrows, there were still plenty of adults to be seen. There were also many common murres, some

guarding chicks that had not yet fledged. The young birds are ready to leave the nest at about three weeks of age;; unable to fly, they tumble or glide down the cliffs to the water below. Once the chick has fledged, the male parent attends it closely for up two two months as the birds venture out to the open sea. Within about two weeks the young are able to fly. The female stays at the nesting site for an average of two weeks or slightly more. This is the time of year when the

dense concentration of murres on the island begins to thin out.

A little farther south on the island, an unusual sight awaited us: one of this year's black-legged kittiwake chicks exhibited a condition called isabellism, a dilution of melanin, the pigment that colours the bird's black feathers and legs. In isabellan birds, one of the two types of melanin, Eumelanin and Phaeomelanin, is missing, resulting in a bird that shows a pale tan colouration

in areas that are normally dark.

As we reached the southern end of Gull Island and headed for open water, we found that the fog and onshore wind had brought a large number of greater shearwaters, birds that are usually found far at sea. These birds nest in Tristan da Cunha, a remote group of volcanic islands in the South Atlantic. One of these curious birds swam up to the boat to investigate us, providing a great opportunity for a close-up shot. From our shearwater encounter, we headed north to view the area's beautiful coastline; more about that in a later post.

It's Not What You See, It's How You See It.

There's an old adage that states "It's not what you say, it's how you say it." In other words, the gist of the statement is important, but the phrasing is what shapes the final interpretation. When it comes to visiting some of the planet's most important natural areas, though, it's not what you see, it's definitely how you see it. There are wondrous sights to be observed, but observation must be coupled with caution and respect to avoid unnecessary stress to wild populations; this is an occasion when a
long lens is extremely useful for capturing bird or animal behavior. On a visit to the Witless Bay Ecologial Reserve, North America's largest Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica) breeding site, for example, pair behaviors like billing (the touching and rubbing of bills) bill tossing (rapid upward movements of the head showing the underside of the bill) and wing flapping displays can be seen. While it is possible to go ashore on the island, human intrusion is limited to legitimate research purposes; however, boat trips from the nearby communities of Witless Bay and Bay Bulls offer
excellent opportunities for puffin observation. The best views, though, come by way of a measured and careful approach that is quiet and unobtrusive. Boat access to the islands of the reserve is limited; tour boat operators require a permit issued by Newfoundland and Labrador's Department of Environment and Conservation, Parks and Natural Areas Division. It's a wonderful place to visit, and thanks to protection and limited access it will be here not only for us but for future generations.

The Road Less Traveled

Many (sometimes I think a few too many) years ago, my high school English teacher, Mary Wille, assigned a Robert Frost poem as a memorization exercise for our modern poetry class:

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost


At the time I didn't have any idea how deeply I would take those words to heart. After nearly thirty years exploring the winding byways of Atlantic Canada, though, it's become clear that roads less

travelled by have become my first choice. It's these roads that allow for breathing space; for stopping and smelling the wild roses or walking a woodland trail beside a crystal waterfall or watching an osprey hover and plummet in pursuit of a fat mackerel. These roads lead to small communities or to broad expanses of unsettled country, to forests and barrens and bogs and meadows where moose or deer graze, and to lakes or coves where eagles soar high above -- where bears sometimes amble out of the shadows in search of a mouthful of tender dandelions and

where wildflowers bloom in profusion, painting the landscape in purple and gold. They lead to places like Elliston, where abandoned root cellars, storage sites for houses that long ago have fallen into dust, create the look of a hobbit village and where a short walk leads to an Atlantic puffin colony that's ideally situated for viewing from land. They lead across eastern hyper-oceanic barrens where hundred-year-old trees rise a few inches in height, and where the only traffic doesn't pay much attention to roadsigns; the right-of-way belongs to the one with the antlers. These are the roads that reveal the

true character of this region; there's no pretense or putting on airs out here. I love exploring these out-of-the-way spots and visiting much-loved places that keep calling me back, and I love sharing those sights and sounds and experiences with others who have the same capacity for delight and discovery. As the summer touring season begins in earnest and the summer's travellers begin their journeys, I'm looking forward to every adventure-filled mile of it!

Might as well face it, I'm addicted to puffins

It's official: I'm addicted to puffins. 95% of these little seabirds here in North America, nest around the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador. There are several spots along the course of my regular Newfoundland Adventure tour where it's possible to get close-up views of them, but the best place for dry-land spotting is Elliston, near Bonavista. When conditions are right and luck is with us, we sometimes experience the thrill of several puffins landing on the mainland side of the tickle, or narrow channel between the headland and the puffins' nesting area. When this happens, the photo opportunities are remarkable. There's a sense of wonder that comes with having wild birds like these choose to alight nearby; lowered voices and slow, easy movement are in order then. If the puffins don't feel threatened they'll stay, almost fearlessly, in close proximity to the people who have come to see them. A visit to Elliston can provide a truly memorable opportunity to experience nature's wonders.