Puffins Galore! - Part 2
All of the puffin shots, and there will be countless puffin shots in my posts, are dedicated to Captain Tony and his First Mate, Aidan. Without these two incredible men I would not have had the experience of a lifetime and I would not have seen a single puffin while on Fogo Island. Not only was I in the safest of hands but I sincerely thank them for their patience while I took countless, and I mean countless, shots!
I would also like to say to everyone that I had the good fortune to meet on Fogo Island that you all touched my deeply. I am humbled by your love of where you live and your respect for each other and Mother Nature. I arrived as a guest and I felt like family by the time that I left. I will return next year - so until then… “Le each deal-ghui” - “With every good wish”.
This post picks up on that same first trip out to see the Puffins last Tuesday morning. Puffins can live up to 25 years. They mate for their life but only spend the short breeding season of approximately 2 months together with their mate. I find it truly mind boggling to think of these birds way out in the Atlantic for most of the year and then flying back to this group of islands and finding their mate out of literally thousands of puffins!
Maria and Dave, I am thrilled that you were able to see puffins in Iceland on your recent trip - fantastic! It does my heart good to share my experiences with all of you and I am touched at how many of you are enjoying these stories and photographs - thank you…
Here we go -
Huge numbers of puffins had been in the water bobbing along further up in front of us when all of a sudden they were zooming by us!
A beautiful Black Guillemot came flying by. Another smallish sea bird that also nests in crevices or burrows on cliffs. Absolutely stunning in flight.
Seriously, a puffin convention! There are times when both parents will take a break from sharing time on the egg and just hang out outside of their burrow. Captain Tony’s granddaughter was able to go out with a biologist once to see the inside of a burrow. Each burrow had two chambers - one spotless chamber where the egg was and the other for you know what - incredible.
Candy, I know that you mentioned it made you feel kind of sad that they only lay one egg each - and that sure does make it a challenge for the puffin population. I am hoping that the fact that there are tens of thousands in and around the islands of Little Fogo, means that even with difficult odds there are places on our earth where they are increasing in their numbers - like in and around these islands.
Zooming by us again….
As we were going around the edge of one of the islands I was able to capture this!
Now looking to my left…
The sky was getting brighter and brighter and I could hardly believe my good luck.. instead of starting to rain the sky was improving! The weather is constantly changing in this part of the world so you just have to be ready for anything. Once again we were going around the edge of an island and I finally felt like I was getting the rhythm and timing of when they were flying in and over the island. I decided to try my best and “lock in” on a bird or small group of them and fire away as long as I could. I held my breath, leaned against the railing of the boat, and …. captured them going - Up, up, and away! I hope that you enjoy this series -
:)
Incredible!
The sun absolutely burst through and just…. wow!
I so wanted to capture the color of their beaks and their feet while in flight…. and let me tell you - about a thousand things had to line up for that to happen…. and they did! Don’t you just love this position?? The sky, the clouds, the gorgeous rock cliff and this most spectacular bird ….
I kept saying - please… make the turn towards me……I just love this…
And then he or she turned as if on queue! :) A shot I will never forget….to see this puffin coming in right through my viewfinder at the perfect angle was a thrill I can’t even adequately describe…
Next thing I knew these 4 beauties flew over so I lifted my camera even higher and higher to capture these shots…. constantly saying to myself… this is all a dream, how can these creatures be real?? How brilliant is that sky? Spectacular clean and refreshing air…
Then a little to my left - a group of 7! It had been so hard to isolate small groups for the previous couple of hours out of the huge groups and then these opportunities happened - wow…..
These flew right over my head - my arms were killing me by this point - but I sure didn’t care about that….
The last of the group turned and was heading back in the direction that he had been coming from…. I love the sense of distance in the sky. I had to keep reminding myself - they birds are only about a foot tall - incredible.
After the above shot I had to give my arms a break from holding them up so high for sooooo long… and so I turned my attention to the top of the island we were passing by on my right ….. and spotted these -
How can you even describe what a puffin looks like?? They are extraordinary….
My final shot for this post. As we continued motoring around past this island I could see a little outcropping sticking out more than others….As we got closer I was able to snap this…. :)
As a young woman I met on my trip said to me - Carpe Diem.