Maine’s rugged coastline extends 228 miles between Kittery and Canada. But if you straightened out the irregular tidal shoreline, it would reach 3,478 miles — longer than California’s shoreline.
So, isn’t it about time you got on a boat? There’s another world of birding out there. I know. I’ve traveled offshore four times in the past three weeks, on boats that I would recommend to you.
Atlantic puffins. They’re in every Maine gift store: t-shirts, plush toys, earrings, coffee mugs, refrigerator magnets, you name it.
But how many Mainers have seen a real puffin? Not only is it easy, but it has gotten easier.
There are five puffin islands along the Maine coast. Four of them get regular visits by at least nine tour boats. Three weeks ago, I went out on one of my absolute favorites, Acadia Puffin Cruise. This boat used to dock in Winter Harbor, which made it a 45-minute ride to reach the puffins on Petit Manan Island. The cruise now departs from a private pier in Steuben, where it’s just a 25-minute jump to the island. The launch site is now so close that the boat can offer up to three puffin cruises per day.
The short ride on Acadia Puffin Cruise also means the boat can linger with the puffins longer. Exposure to surf is less challenging, for anyone prone to seasickness. The ability to run multiple trips per day means you have a better chance to reschedule if a cruise is canceled by fog.
A week later, I enjoyed another of my favorite puffin tours. Every Sunday from late May until early August, the Isle au Haut Ferry makes a special trip out of Stonington to visit Seal Island.
The boat they use, Otter, is large and relatively modern. Rather than plowing through the surf, it tends to ride smoothly over the waves. We had 4-foot seas that day, yet nobody got sick. In fact, nobody even looked green.
Most puffins have already left their nesting islands for the season and the tour boats have stopped visiting. That means I am giving you 10 months to plan your puffin trip for next year. Consider a few factors for the best experience.
Puffins are members of the alcid family. Other Maine-nesting alcids include common murres, razorbills and black guillemots. Each of the five islands hosts its own unique mix of species.
Common murres tend to nest on the northernmost islands, Machias Seal Island and Petit Manan. Razorbills are there, too, and also nest in the midcoast region at Seal Island.
Black guillemots are everywhere. Farther south, the puffin colony on Matinicus Rock is not normally visited by tour boats. Three boats visit the southernmost puffin colony, Eastern Egg Rock near New Harbor. This island is mostly used by puffins, and not many puffin cousins.
June and July are best for puffin visits. In June, the colonies are bustling with activity, although some of the females may be hidden underground on nests. If you really want that iconic look of puffins carrying fish, choose July when the pufflings are hatched and hungry.
Don’t wait. Puffins start to leave by mid-August, and the razorbills and murres depart at least two weeks earlier than that. You’ll still see puffins in August, but fewer of them.
This week, I went out twice on another favorite boat, the Bar Harbor Whale Watch. Nearly everybody on board was there to see whales. I was there to see birds. When it’s winter in the southern hemisphere, interesting birds from the South Atlantic migrate into the Gulf of Maine.
Wilson’s storm-petrels nest along the southern coast of Argentina and islands adjacent to Antarctica. It’s considered to be one of the most abundant species in the world. I can believe it, because hundreds of storm-petrels carpeted the whaling grounds just beyond Mount Desert Rock. Oh, and we saw whales.
Great shearwaters nest on a very remote set of islands, midway between South America and South Africa. During their winter, they come up here. Other shearwater species are possible, including sooty shearwaters from Argentina, Manx shearwaters from Europe, and sometimes even Cory’s shearwaters from the Mediterranean.
Meanwhile, Canadian visitors come down to the Gulf in late summer. Northern gannets are southbound from their nesting islands in Quebec and Newfoundland. Pomarine and parasitic jaegers visit from their sub-Arctic breeding grounds. Red and red-necked phalaropes arrive from the north and west.
Maine is full of offshore tourists this time of year. Be one of them.
