Tag Archives: puffins

Do you know the Puffin Man?

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The Attendant in Pemaquid Lighthouse Park was full of suggestions for possible cruises so with her directions and brochures in hand I was off to locate New Harbor, Maine.

I wasn’t able to find out much about New Harbor, ME. Wikipedia has only a few lines. It’s home to Pemaquid Lighthouse and Fort William Henry. I saw that sign for Fort William Henry and wanted to detour to check it out. I grew up near a Fort William Henry but that was in New York. I guess if there can be 2 Fort Knox then there can be 2 Fort William Henry. Unfortunately I wouldn’t have time if I wanted to catch the lighthouse Cruise so I passed it by and continued on toward the little village.

Wikipedia goes on to say “The town’s lobster fisherman and “Back Cove” were featured on an episode of the Discovery Channel’s “Sunrise Earth”.

I love that show. It’s one hour of natural sounds and sights, no background music, no talking, just ambient noise. The photography is outstanding. I like to lower the lights and use it as “quiet time”. It’s hard to find the show. Even Rocky and Smokey like to watch it. It seems to move around in the schedule and I haven’t seen it for a while now so I don’t know if it’s still on, but nature lovers, if you can find it, definitely tune in.

As I rounded a corner I saw a big sign…Parking for Hardy Boat Cruises. There was a parking attendant kiosk and a port-a-potty and an open field. Parking was $3.00 and you had to walk the rest of the way to the docks. It seems there was a restaurant on the docks that had cars towed if you were not a patron of the restaurant.

When I arrived at the ticket booth another older woman was arguing that being forced to park so far away was a hardship for her but her arguments were futile. There was no bending the rules. I bet someone could run a golf cart back and forth and make a bunch of money.

Anyway, it was my turn at the window and Maine quirkiness was in evidence once again. I asked for tickets on the lighthouse cruise and was told it had been moved to 11:30am. Well it was after 11:30 now so I guess I missed it. I showed the girl the brochure and she shrugged and said “I guess they changed it”. It wasn’t an old brochure . I really had to laugh then. So since I was there I asked her what cruises were available. She suggested the “Puffin Tour”. Now that got my attention. I remember that on the Puffin Tour in Bar Harbor they said that was the southernmost part of the Puffin’s range. When I mentioned that she said “Be sure to tell the naturalist. He’d want to know that.”

So here I am on another Puffin Cruise and without my seasick meds. Here’s hoping it won’t be too rough.

I took a seat on the upper deck. And soon we were heading out into the harbor.

The naturalist said he “hoped” we’d see puffins but that he couldn’t promise. We were heading to a chunk of rock called Eastern Egg Rock. Seems like every harbor has an “Egg Rock” and the story as to how it got its name sounded really familiar too. Early settlers used to go out to the island to collect the eggs to eat. Yup heard that before.

When we reached the island we could see lots of birds on the island but they weren’t all Puffins.

There were laughing gulls, the only kind Puffins will co-exist with, and guillemots.

Guillemot colony at Egg Rock

There were more guillemots than puffins but according to the naturalist the guillemots were far more rare than the puffins.

No one was seasick on this trip and we saw puffins, not as many as on the Bar Harbor trip but there was still plenty to see.

As we turned back toward New Harbor the day was coming to an end giving us a front row seat for the setting sun.

Tomorrow my trip is done. I’ll be heading back to “real life” . I was pleased with quite a few of my pictures but still haven’t got the shot I envisioned for the Pemaquid Light. I may have to return.

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If you are in New Harbor, Maine and want to have a nice tour, check out the offerings from the Hardy Boats: www.hardyboat.com

It was a 3 hour tour…a 3 hour tour

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“Just sit right back and you’ll hear tale

A tale of that fateful trip…..

…5 passengers set sail that day

on a 3 hour tour, a 3 hour tour…..”

Ah Gilligan how I missed you on that cruise. Remember how the Minnow was lost? Little did I know what an adventure lay ahead of me as I stood in line to board the tour boat.

The sun had burned off the fog and haze and it was a beautiful afternoon. The sea was calm, what more could anyone ask for. Well maybe a bigger boat?

There were 2 boats tied up to the dock as I stood in line. One was a fair-sized boat with  a sign “Nature Tours”.

The other was a smaller boat. I took a picture of the larger boat thinking that was the one I would be on…wrong it was it’s smaller cousin the Islander. About that time the theme song from Gilligan’s Island began to play in my head. This tour was supposed to be around 3 hours…a 3 hour tour…

What a happy little group we all were as we motored out of the harbor past picturesque islands, the water a sparkling blue. On board with us tourists were the Skipper, his mate, and a naturalist/guide.

We no sooner left the protection of the harbor when the seas began to roll and chop. Spray off the bow had me soaked in no time and that water was cold! I noticed many of the other passengers heading inside. I thought it was to get warm but in fact that was where the main mass of tourists went to share their misery…seasickness! Oh boy, it was not a pretty sight.  So far I was hanging tough but even as cold as I was, I didn’t want to press my luck by staying where I was surrounded by barfing , green faces. At least the sun was still shining…for now.

We slowed down as we passed Bear Island with  a very pretty lighthouse. Then picked up speed again to head for another island that was several miles out to sea. This island, known as Petit Manan Island, also had a lighthouse and this was where we hoped to find the Puffins.

The farther we went from land the rougher it got and more and more passengers retired to the “sick” room. Then the fog rolled in. The Gillian’s Island song started playing in my head again! 🙂 Louder this time.

Finally we spotted the island. The skipper brought us in as close as he could safely go and dropped anchor and there were the puffins. My they were tiny! Only about 10 inches and they were almost lost in the surf but there were so many of them.

They were on the land, in the water and in the air. Along with the puffins were laughing gulls, arctic terns and a few other sea birds whose names I have forgotten. On land and at a distance they made me think of penguins.Naturalist/guide broke away from his nursing duties long enough to explain that this island was the most southern point of the Puffin’s range. They don’t do well with any sea gulls except the laughing gulls so a few years ago the scientists removed all of the gulls, dug holes for puffins to nest in and put fake puffins around the island. Then they broadcast puffin calls.

The first year a few puffins stopped by to investigate but didn’t nest. The next year a few pairs came and they stayed this time. Now there is a thriving colony large enough that it can protect its territory  from gulls and other invaders.

It was soon time to head home. I didn’t get the ” National Geographic Shot” but at least I saw real live Puffins.

I learned about them and about another location where you can actually go on the land to see them. Sounds like a plan for another time. Heading back we were going by one last island, Egg Rock Island, where there were seals and possibly eagles.

So anchors away! Let’s get this ship turned around!