I read somewhere that if you are in Newfoundland at the right time of year you are guaranteed to see Atlantic puffins. Which brings me to a confession: one of the reasons we visited Newfoundland was to see puffins. Also known as the sea parrot, this charismatic and goofy-looking species is the official bird of Newfoundland and Labrador. As such, puffins are celebrated throughout the province. Case in point: these beautiful topiaries at MUN Botanical Garden in St. Johns.
We visited two locations in Newfoundland in order to see puffins. The first was Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, which is on the Avalon Peninsula about 30 minutes south of St. Johns. The Reserve is open ocean and four islands that are the nesting sites for pelagic birds including North America's largest Atlantic puffin colony. In fact, more than 260,000 pairs nest here from late spring to summer. That's a shit-ton of birds, and there's more. The islands also host the second-largest colony of Leach's storm-petrels, and are important for black-legged kittiwakes and common murres. Because this is a highly sensitive habitat and an important bird area, the islands can only be viewed by boat, so we joined O'Brien's Whale and Bird Tours for the morning. The boat was unsurprisingly named the Atlantic Puffin. It rocked back and forth and up and down as we traveled through the bay and I was thankful I had taken motion sickness medication.
During the boat ride to the island, we saw whales. The guides pointed out three species: minke, fin, and humpback.
A pair swam very close to our boat
Approaching our destination
Fuzzy photo of common murres
Common murres and kittiwakes
Atlantic puffins
Atlantic puffins and gulls. Some of the gulls on the island were great black-backed gulls, a predator of puffins.
Puffins and murres
Murres
Flying puffins
The other guaranteed place to see puffins during nesting season is the coastal town of Elliston. Here, you can walk a short distance to a puffin-viewing site. If you're prone to sea sickness, this is a great option.
What I especially liked about this site was that I could sit in a grassy area, and watch puffins to my heart's content. We sat there for over an hour, staring at puffins. What follows is a series of way too many puffin photos.
At one point, my eyes landed on the strangest-looking bird, a guillemot. I had seen this pelagic bird in the ocean off the coast of Point Reyes National Seashore several years ago. Even from quite a distance away, I could see the bird's feet kicking furiously underwater. I was stumped when I saw this bird on land and had to re-ID it.
After watching the puffins for an hour, we headed over to the Boreal Diner, which my coworker Michael had recommended. The Diner is quaint and homey with an area upstairs that resembles a cozy attic, with rustic hard wood floors and floral curtains blowing in the breeze. If this place were in Denver, it would have been swarming with hipsters. The meal started with freshly-baked bread and a slab of juniper-infused butter. Next, I had a Beyond Meat veggie burger, an entire jacket potato, some of the best coleslaw ever, and local beer. I am proud to say I ate everything.
End.