puffins on Machias Seal Island in Maine

[bruce_sherman]

I am visiting Maine this summer and plan to take one of the boats out

to Machias Seal Island to photograph the Atlantic Puffins. What's the

best time during the summer to do this? What focal length lenses

would be best? Are there other birds (e.g. Razorbills) that can be

photographed? Thanks in advance.

[garth_mcelroy]

Hi Bruce,

 

You may want to ckeck out the Maine Birding web site at http://www.mainebirding.net . It has information on Atlantic Puffins on Machias Seal Island, and lists the boat companies and there web sites. If you get a chance you may also want to check out Quoddy Head State Park. Check it out at http://www.virtualbirder.com/vbirder/onLoc/onLocDirs/DOWNEAST/pa/downeast/QuoddyHead.html#Bog . It is located on the eastern most piece of land in the US. Have fun!!

[bobatkins]

I don't know about the "best" time, but I've been there in June and had good luck. There are Razorbills and Arctic Terns on the island too. I think the puffins leave in August?

 

I'd suggest a 300/4 or 400/4.6 lens (or telephoto zoom). Anything bigger will be very hard to work with inside the small blinds with 3 other people in there with you! I'd say a 500/4 or 600/4 would be almost out of the question - even assuming you could safely get it on the island which involves stepping from a small boat onto sometimes slippery rocks. Even using a tripod is difficult unless you really don't care about upsetting the other people in the blind. You can rest the lens on the window of the blind OK though and a monpod (or tripod with one leg extended) is fine. A Canon IS lens would be great if you shoot EOS.

[joe_fuhrman1]

Bruce, I was there in early July of 99. It is a great seabird photo opportunity. I went with Barna Norton (Barna of Jonesport is his boat company). There is also a boat that leaves from Cutler, ME, but I don't know the name of that company. It was a 90 minute ride out each way. I hauled my 600mm f4 out there just in case, but never used it. A 100mm-300mm zoom or similar is perfect. Atlantic Puffins are just 5'-10' away from each photo blind! Bob Atkins is right, don't bother with a tripod as you have a small approx. 6" x 6" sq. opening in the wood blind to shoot from.

 

One very important thing to remember is that your time on the island is limited by the resident Canadian biologists on the island, and the captain of whatever boat you are on. As soon as either of them believe the weather is declining, you are out of there! I had sunny weather, but only 1 hour on the island as the wind whipped up and we had very heavy seas back to Jonesport, ME. I talked with a fellow on my boat who had only 30 minutes on the island the previous day. Therefore use you time wisely. Many people do get 2-3 hours or more on the island, but it is all due to the weather.

 

Don't bother with a flash as the opening in the blind is not big enough unless you remoted the flash with a sync cord and had another person holding your flash for you. You mentioned Razorbills, and yes there should be plenty of them to photograph. Don't forget those seasick pills !

[mike_danzenbaker]

Your questions have been pretty much answered by now, but I'll add a couple of contrary opinions.

 

I went in late June, plenty of action both with puffins and razorbills. If you went in the first half of July, I think you might get more opportunities for puffins with billfuls of capelin / sand eels. By then there would be more hungry chicks to be fed.

 

I took a 500 F4 and 300 F4 and used them both. I was lucky enough to have a blind to myself + my wife, so setting up a tripod was feasible. It wasn't always easy to create an unobstructed shot through the smallish window with the 500, though.

 

Also, I brought and successfully used a flash, and would recommend this. By the time you get there, the sun will be quite high; I was glad I brought something to soften the harsh shadows. I don't quite remember whether the windows are round/square or rectangular. If the latter, you could simply mount the flash to the camera's hotshoe and shoot verticals; the flash would then have a clear avenue to the subject. Off-camera flash could also be used if you have a willing partner and an uncrowded blind.

 

Regarding the slippery landing, it might be a good idea to put your stuff in a dry bag.

 

Keep your options open by taking everything you can think of on the boat with you. You can then estimate in advance how crowded the blinds will be based on how many people are on your boat. If it looks bad, just leave the bulky frills on board.

 

It's a great place; have fun !

[mike_danzenbaker]

Sorry, I missed Joe's observation that the windows are approx. 6" square, which does indeed rule out the possibility of on-camera flash. But again, if you do like to use flash, take one anyway, in case you have the space to use it.

 

BTW, you might even want to consider a polarizer.

[cliff_beittel]

The puffins are said to leave after the first week of August. There was still good shooting when I went between July 27 and August 2, but mid-July might be best. We scheduled three trips, got good light on one. Timing of trips (at least those out of Grand Manan) varies daily based on tides, another reason to schedule several visits over a week or so if you can. Early morning worked well for light, but you may be going at midday or later, so Mike Danzenbaker is right about taking flash, if you have someone to aim it for you off camera.

 

We had only an hour each trip. The ports are very small for a 600, but from the blinds I was in, that was the best lens for isolating birds against water or out-of-focus vegetation. You bang the lens against the blind quite a bit, so try to get a blind by yourself or with friends. There were plenty of birds close enough for a 70-200 or a 400, which I had with me, but usually with busy backgrounds. A 500 f4 seems to be the favorite of those who have one.

 

Definitely take a tripod and a ball head (this is the only place I know where a ballhead works better than a Wimberly with a big lens). I had hoped to use a Bogan clamp to eliminate the tripod, but the ports are cut in thin plywood, far too flimsy for steady support. The ports are also badly positioned, too low for standing, too high for sitting or kneeling; the resultant crouch produced a bad case of "sewing-machine" legs.

 

Despite all that, it's a great opportunity. I got great shots and want to go again.

[shyamal datta]

In addition to all of the information above, I had found my bean bag to be extremely useful for placing my Sigma 300mm through the 6x6 wooden holes of the blinds. This after having packed the tripod away. The bean bag formed a soft support for both the camera body as well as the lense. I was there in August 2000 , used Captain Jones boat and the Puffin Count was 15,000 with the Auks a close second.

[bill_scholtz]

Bruce, I was there on July, 30 1998 and have some pictures on my website that may give you an idea of what to expect. You can see the blinds. I had only scheduled one day. We got half way there and they decided it was too rough so we went back. They did not go again for a few days but, I was lucky that some people canciled.

 

www.scholtz.org/bill/nature/MachiasSealIsland/index.html

 

Have fun,

Bill

[ruth_rosenthal]

I think I was there mid June about two years ago, and it was great. I think I went out with Barna, but I forget, since I also drove through Cutler. I envy you - it's definitely one of the most unusual photo opps I've had. It's not hard to get good photos, but you might want to book two trips if you can, as insurance against bad weather and/or "unable to lands". When I was there, the weather turned out ok, although cloudy, which made for a little bit disappointing photos. I ould LOVE to go again. The puffins are SO adorable, and it's so neat to hear them land right on the roof the your blind! Looks like folks have given you lots of advice, which is good. You will certainly LOVE THIS TRIP - I did.

[james_ownby2]

Bruce,

If you make your reservations to Machias Seal with the Nortons (do it soon), be sure to specify that you want to go ashore as well. Last June we called a week in advance & reserved a trip, but when we arrived were told that we could go on the boat to the island but that all reservations to go ashore had been taken. Fortunately there were some no-shows and we were able to go ashore and photograph the birds close-up. Just another thing that can go wrong on this trip, but it's all worth it to see a puffin filling the viewfinder of your camera.

We only saw one bird feeding young in late June, so for those shots of puffins with fish for their chicks, July might be better.

[cowan stark]

I just went on a trip to Machias last weekend. Awful weather, but worth it. I found a 300/4L IS and 1.4x TC were the most useful. A beanbag or a monopod would also be useful. I've written an article for anyone who cares on <a href="http://www.cowanstark.com/machias_seal_island.htm">my humble website<a/>. Plenty of razobills and terns of course.