Bill Craigue's Northern Adventure
Bill Craigue provided me with some excellent photos he took on a recent trip to the Maine coast. Bill was able to shoot these photos of Puffins up close and personal due to strategically placed bird-watching blinds.
For more information about Puffins, visit the ProjectPuffins.org.
These birds make for very interesting photography subjects.
Atlantic Puffins are found exclusively in the North Atlantic Ocean in North America, they nest from Labrador to the Northeastern United States. In Europe, they nest south to the Brittany Coast of France, northwards to Iceland, Greenland, and Northern Russia. Most of the world’s puffins are found in Iceland, where sixty percent of the population breeds.
Puffin originally meant "fatling." The name was used to describe the chubby chicks of the Manx Shearwater, with which puffin chicks were confused. In the last half of the 1800’s the puffin was given the scientific name of Fratercula arctica, which means "little brother of the north" in Latin. Little brother may also be interpreted as ‘little friar’ an allusion to the puffin’s black and white plumage which is reminiscent of a friar’s robes. A second connotation of little friar may be drawn from the puffin’s sometime habit of holding it’s feet together when taking off, suggestive of hands clasped together in prayer. Regardless of the scientific name, local names still abound. These include such colorful names as "clown of the ocean" and "sea parrot." People used to claim that a puffin was actually a cross between a bird and a fish because of its superb ability to swim underwater. This allowed some people to eat puffin meat on lent and Fridays to avoid the prohibition of meat by the Catholic Church on these days.
During winter, the bills and feet of puffins fade to dull gray. Every spring their beaks and feet turn a colorful orange in preparation for the breeding season. The beaks and feet of puffins become brightly colored and the beak increases in size as the bird matures. The size and color of puffin beaks may serve as badges of experience and help birds assess the ‘quality’ of potential mates.