By Sally Siko
As the island came into view over the hazy ocean horizon, my heart thumped with the anticipation of seeing hundreds of seabirds gathered in one place.
The chilly wind was whipping around at a brisk pace and it was difficult to contain my excitement as I nervously checked (and double-triple checked) my camera settings to ensure I’d be able to photograph the birds from whatever distance the boat would provide once we stopped offshore.
F 10 for distance, a shutter speed of 1250 to freeze the action and ISO set to 500 to make sure the photos would be bright enough to catch the details no matter how far away the birds might be.
The last thing I wanted was to get caught up in the moment and miss shots of potential lifers due to incorrect settings so I set my camera exposure and practiced photos of distant gulls wheeling overhead.
If nothing else this “practice time” would calm my nerves and keep me occupied until we reached Petit Manan.
Finally after what felt like forever lol, the boat slowed and we arrived to the island.
The boat shut its engine off a couple hundred feet from shore. Scanning the water with my lens, I searched for my quarry the Atlantic Puffin. Then all of a sudden there they were!
Woohooo!!!
I must have taken several hundred photos of these guys as they bobbed on the water, disappearing and reappearing again with the rolling swells.
We could even see the artificial nesting burrows where nesting Puffins were hidden at the top of the rocks.
Mike and I scrambled from bow to stern as the boat floated in a circle every so often to give on lookers on both sides, a turn to view the birds sitting on the rocks and floating in the water.
It was just awesome to actually watch Puffins in the wild, hunting for food and squabbling over a catch!
I can’t wait to return to Maine next summer to lead more tours, there’s so much to see up here. It’s incredibly rewarding to share moments like this with my guests.
😉
Photos by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding on my mighty 50 megapixel monster, the @canonusa #5Ds