"To see so many puffins right here, two or three feet away. Taya, her sister Josie, 7, and parents Eric and Holly Robillard of Cape Cod, Mass., had just emerged from wooden blinds constructed to allow tourists to get a close-up look at the various breeds of birds that inhabit the sanctuary. There are more than 5,500 breeding pairs of the comical birds on the tiny island, accessible by only one tour operator in New Brunswick and one in Maine. "They were all very cute and they were everywhere," she said with glee. The face of 10-year-old Taya Robillard beams with excitement when asked to describe the thousands of colourful Atlantic puffins that populate the barren landscape of Machias Seal Island - located in disputed waters off the coasts of New Brunswick and Maine.
On departure, Captain Andy cruised briefly offshore the main island and a very small neighboring island. When you walk to and from the outhouse the terns, protecting their nests will harass you flying around your head. The only previous seen bird were Common Terns.
I also saw a Northern Gannet and a Red-breasted Nuthatch. He supposedly had only a half hour!īirds - On the island you will see: My personal lifers - Atlantic Puffins, Razorbills, Artic Terns, and Savannah Sparrows were very common. The host of the PBS show used a tripod, but he had an entire blind to himself (with photographer). 4 strangers and we all took turns at different openings. Four slide up shutters along each side alternating standing and kneeling eye levels and one standing opening on the North end. Our blind was oriented south (door) to north. I used my Zuiko 50-200mm zoom with 2x teleconverter. There are so many puffins and Razorbills so close to the blind I would have been satisfied with 15 minutes. Four people per blind and we were allowed 1 hour. Once everyone in the party is on the dock you go up to a gathering spot, offered use of the outhouse (one at a time walking to and from), then you are escorted to your photo blind. You are expected to follow directions that are given. If you land, you are on a Bird Sanctuary. The Island is disputed between the USA and Canada. It takes about an hour to get to the island. I chose what turned out to be a "perfect" day. Please go to the Bold Coast Charter website for more particulars. Refunds provided for weather related cancellations. The fee is $150, half due at the time of reservation the other half at departure. I was able to make a reservation for June 12 by Jan. I tried to make one for the "peak" (June 19) of the season on Jan. This year, reservations were closed by Feb. They start taking reservations shortly after the New Year. Your Captain is Captain Andrew "Andy" Patterson. I booked this tour through Bold Coast Charters out of Cutler, ME. I have wanted to go to New England for quite some time so I included this tour on my things to do. I first heard of this tour on PBS's "Wild Photo Adventures". If you want a guaranteed opportunity, weather permitting, to photograph Atlantic Puffins, this is the tour to take.
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