September 2015 – Kenai Fjords, Alaska
This was right around the end of the season for seeing puffins in the Alaskan waters. Soon, they would all be headed for the open ocean for winter.
Horned Puffin
Horned Puffin
Category Archives: Auks, Murres, Puffins
Tufted Puffin
September 2014 – Kenai Fjords, Alaska
Not the greatest photo of a Tufted Puffin, but all I could manage in the conditions… I’m sure a better photo is in my future, somewhere… sometime.
Tufted Puffin
Common Murre
Common Murre
September 2013 – Off the Oregon Coast
Outside the breeding season, these birds take-on a different appearance, and stick mostly to the water. Why come to land if you don’t have to?
Common Murre
November 2008 – Yaquina Head, Oregon
If penguins could fly, they’d probably look a lot like the Common Murre. These were getting ready to roost (not sure if there are nests here) on a rocky outcrop just off of Yaquina Head, near Newport, Oregon.
Atlantic Puffin
Atlantic Puffin
July 2006 – near Husavik, Iceland
Do these birds have any idea how cute and comical they appear? They might look like clowns of the sea, but they live a very hard life – they spend most of the year out at sea, only coming to land for a few months to nest in burrows. And during those times, they have to look out for hungry rats, and even humans. Puffins are on the menu in Iceland (though, I’m told they’re not very tasty… it’s just that in the past, Icelanders were desperate for meat).
Atlantic Puffin
Atlantic Puffins are a lot more graceful in the water than they are on land. And likely, still more graceful under the water.