Home»Birding Trips»Machias Seal Island - July 2010

Machias Seal Island is home to the largest population of nesting Atlantic Puffins on the coast of Maine. It is also a summer nesting home for other Alcids including Razorbills and Common Murres, as well as Common and Arctic Terns.

On July 26, 2010 I joined my friend Karl Gerstenberger and others on an excursion out to Machias Seal Island, led by Capt. Andy Patterson who operates the Barbara Frost vessel out of Cutler, Maine. The Canadian Coast Guard maintains a manned light station on the 15-acre island, and provides small wooden blinds where we photographed puffins, razorbills and murres at close range. During our three-hour stay, we had a variety of lighting conditions ranging from direct sunlight to diffuse light.