On my wish list is a trip to Maine this summer to photograph the puffins. Are their nesting sites accessible? Anyone with any experience/suggestions please chime in.
Hi Ted.
I just registered with FM so I could answer your request.
The only place in Maine to shoot Puffins is Machias Seal Island. I just did that trip last summer. What a great experience! There is a large breeding colony there, and the Canadian government has a a research team there each summer (ownership of the island in in dispute). The reserchers have four blinds set up, and visitors get to spend 30 - 45 minutes in them.
The puffins are all around you. A zoom lens is probably your best bet. I used a 70-300. Sometimes wider would be good, and sometimes longer would be good too. There are also Razorbills and Common Mures there, and they tend to be a bit further from the blinds.
You'll want to take the boat that goes out of Cutler Harbor. It's about a 50 minute trip to the island.
I also highly recommend booking two trips on consecutive days. The weather can be very iffy up there, and sometimes they have to cancel the trip. This will give you a second opportunity if that happens. In the event that you do go out on the first day, you'll have the second day to concentrate on the shots that you might have missed the first day. I went out two days, and I don't regret it.
I suggest you make arrangement ASAP to get the best dates. They are only allowed a certain number of landings each week, and place fills up fast.
There are also links there for lodging. I recommend the Machias Motor Inn. Its about a 30 minute drive from Cutler Harbor. Several restaurants there.
Here's a link to some of my puffin photos http://www.fototime.com/ftweb/bin/ft.dll/pictures?userid={E260B1F7-A28B-4F14-9979-B35A88DF8805}&AlbumId={558F58C4-785F-4EEA-AE35-D5A99750B5C9}&GroupId={1D5F1647-AD5D-49CE-B82C-DC2B0D5653DA}
Feel free to write me if you have any questions.
Dan Marquis [email protected]
Dan is right - Machias Seal Island is the place to go. You can also catch a boat out of Jonesport, Maine. We stayed at a B&B right at the harbor (www.harborhs.com - excellent rooms and breakfast) and then walked to the boat. I am not familiar with Cutler, but we had a beautiful foggy evening in the Jonesport Harbor that made for some nice pictures. I went in June and we got rained out the first day and ended up leaving late on the second day so by the time we got the Machias Seal Island it was too rough to land on the island. So we ended up in a small dingy with the captain pursuing puffins on the ocean - let's just say if I knew we couldn't land I probably won't have taken the trip. The captain was a little on the cranky side as it seems the weather has been unpredictable the last few years. www.machiassealisland.com, but I enjoyed the Jonesport Harbor. It is one of the largest working lobster ports and if the weather cooperates you will be surrounded by puffins. I am hoping to make up for my puffin fiascos in Iceland this July.
They also have a boat that goes puffin siting out of Stonington to another island, but it doesn't land and it doesn't have as many puffins as Machias.
I was there in 2006 and hit such a fog bank that the only puffin we saw was a shadow flying by us.
So if the only point of the trip is puffins, the other suggestions are likely better. But Bar Harbor offers access to Acadia National Park, which is in my top 3 favorite parks in the US.
Ted,
Ive been to Machias Seal Is. to photograph Puffin. It was an assignment I did many years ago but nothing has changed. You will need to book accomodation nearby Cutler ME. I would suggest either Lubec, Me, about 25 miles away or just over the bridge from Lubec is Campabello (summer haunt of FDR) and a great place to spend a night or two. Take one of the fishing boats out of Cutler to Machias Seal Is. Cutler is hardly a town, just a very small fishing village and not much else. It is however one of the most picture perfect Maine seacoast towns I have ever visited. Be careful if the terns are nesting, they will and do attack so wear a baseball cap. Wish I could go with you.
Cheers-Red
