Perishing Puffins

Posted on July 27, 2013July 27, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Ah Puffins, those cute, colorful and comical sea birds , full of character and playfully known as “sea parrots” or even “clowns of the sea”.

I chased them last year in Maine on 2 different occasions. It was an educational experience. Before Maine my exposure to these funny little birds had been National Geographic photos, close ups of the colorful beaks loaded with herring or eels.

With their bright colored beak, white breast and black back, these birds look like a cross between a parrot and a penguin. They are a major tourist attraction since being brought back to the northern Maine Islands about 40 years ago.

I was surprised about how small they are. It makes getting an iconic photo like Nat Geo’s almost impossible. You need access to the islands, not a rolling deck on a tour boat. You need a large telephoto lens and a tripod but I don’t think you need a lot of luck. I saw many puffins and many had the fish hanging from their beaks but they were tiny and distance made capturing that “money shot” a long shot.

Fast forward to this year and a cruise to Alaska. On the maps showing our cruise route were places marked with Puffins. I was hoping that I’d get to see some of the little birds here, maybe sitting on an iceberg or two but if any were in the area they got by without fanfare and I missed them.

Puffins have been on my mind lately. I still want to find a way to get that special photo. The Mass Audubon Society (of which I am a member) had an overnight excursion with special access to the Puffin Colony but the cost was too rich for me at the moment so I let the idea pass so it was with some concern that I watched a news clip today on the state of the Puffins in Maine.

According to the release young puffins died at an alarming rate last season because of a shortage of herring, leaving adults to try to feed them another type of fish that was too big to swallow. Some chicks died surrounded by piles of uneaten fish.

I didn’t hear any of this last year. Maybe it wasn’t shared with the tourists as we tried to line up the perfect shot.

This summer, the chicks are getting plenty of hake and herring, said Steve Kress, director of the National Audubon Society’s seabird restoration program and professor at Cornell University but the report went on to say that researchers are still concerned because occupancy rates in the nest burrows are down this year. Puffins were nearly wiped out in Maine about a century ago. Reintroduction was begun only about 40 years ago.

Puffins raise only 1 chick, known as a Puffling, in an underground burrow. Puffins are less adaptable than many other seabirds so the health of a puffin colony is a good indication of the health of the sea and certain fish stocks.

I hope the colonies recover fully and continue to grow. After all, like so many tourists to Maine, I haven’t got my perfect photo yet!

(The wonderful close ups came from the web. I can’t offer credit for them as the photographer wasn’t Identified nor were the photos watermarked. But these are exactly what I want to take!)

Norris Reservation

Posted on July 26, 2013July 26, 2013 by Dusty Roads

I love learning about little hidden gems of protected areas. Green spaces in the heart of urban Massachusetts, always a surprise, always a treasure.

I guess it’s true that you can take the girl out of the country but you can’t take the country out of the girl. I grew up in the Adirondacks exploring the woods and fields and then I became “urbanized” , exploring the concrete jungle, museums, aquariums, zoos. As I’ve grown older I’ve been increasingly draw back toward my roots. I’ve tired of traffic and gas fumes and crowds. I look for quiet places, woods and steams. I thrill to the sight of a hawk or osprey, a great blue heron or an egret; the flick of a white tail’s flag , a parade of baby geese.

I follow the news of great white sharks off Cape Cod or the rescue of a baby harbor seal.

So I was thrilled to learn of a little place called Norris Reservation in Norwell, MA.

The day I was introduced to this little island of green was one of the hottest, most humid days we have had in this summer of hot, humid days. But even with the uncomfortable conditions I met plenty of other walkers.

Norris Reservation is small, only about 2 miles of easy trails, but it wasn’t crowded. There are board walks and well groomed trails covered in pine needles.

Lovely stone benches along the way let you pause and contemplate the quiet beauty of the natural surroundings.

I only explored about 1/2 of the trails on this, my first visit. I didn’t get to the tidal marsh or the bend in the North River.

The literature speaks of a boat house and picnic areas that I still need to discover.

My direction took me over a little bridge to a boardwalk around a pond. I heard something splashing in the water but I couldn’t see what it was. I sat on a bench and watched the fish rise and dragon flies zoom from flower to flower.

In the distance I could hear children laughing and splashing…maybe a back yard pool?

All in all not a bad way to spend a hot , summer afternoon.

Another Wordless Wednesday

Posted on July 24, 2013July 24, 2013 by Dusty Roads

On Gristmill Pond

Posted on July 10, 2013July 10, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Not much to say and it’s Wednesday so how about a “Wordless Wednesday ” Post.

Day at the Zoo

Posted on July 7, 2013July 7, 2013 by Dusty Roads

It’s the last day in Alaska and I’m so glad we are spending it at the Zoo. I love zoos. I even went to the zoo in Hawaii.

So we arrived via the Zoo shuttle right to the entrance. When it’s time to leave the shuttle will pick us up right in the parking lot. There’s even a little bench to sit on while we wait.

We bought our tickets and picked up our maps and followed a family of rambunctious little ones onto the paths. The paths cross crossed and meandered so we picked the “must see” animals and figured we’d go there first. Grizzlies were on that list but they were also on the far side of the zoo.

There was a little deer in an exhibit that was just full of mischief. A Maintenance worker was repairing the enclosure and she just followed him everywhere trying to chew on his pants. When he finally shooed her away she took off to pick on a poor , abused looking turkey that shared her enclosure.

The tiger was sleeping and wasn’t going to move for anyone.

The wolves were pretty riled up. They paced along the fence line. A family with very young children were watching. The wolves seemed to be fixed on the kids. Did they think they were prey? A snack? The kids started making howling sounds and the pack joined in.

Once the family moved on the pack dispersed back into the trees in their habitat.

We saw a snowy owl, one of the birds that winters in MA and that I am still trying to get a photo of in the wild.

There was a beautiful bald eagle. They are so majestic that it always makes me feel bad when I see them in captivity. On the other hand many of the captive eagles were injured and couldn’t be rehabilitated enough to survive in the wild. I guess being captive is better than the alternative.

We passed the black bear, a moose hiding in the shadows, and a pretty little red fox snoozing in the sun.

We got a close up look at the caribou.

We crossed a bridge over a pond and watched the swan whose very presence owned the pond. I’m not a “birder” but I think it was a Trumpeter Swan. We have “Mute” Swans around home and it wasn’t that. The bill was black while the Mute Swans have yellow bills and a black eye ridge.

Silly me spotted a squirrel and the picture I got of him is one of my favorites.

There was a good exhibit of the Dall Sheep so we finally got to see this elusive animal up close.

Finally we spotted the grizzly bear enclosure. They weren’t cooperating any more than the wild ones. One was sprawled in the brook in the shade down in a corner of the enclosure. No good angle for a picture. The other one was in a hollow taking a nap. His big foot and an ear about all that could be seen.

By now we’d spent more than an hour so we needed to hustle back to catch the shuttle. We passed the otters and stopped for a minute at the Polar Bears.