One dream fulfilled - I saw puffins today!

I see bald eagles all the time, but I've never seen a puffin. I was in Maine last year, but it never occured to me to look for puffins. Are they common there?

I envy you.

From childhood, I remember:

The Puffin
by Florence Jacques

There once was a puffin just the shape of a muffin,
And he lived on an island in the deep blue sea,
He ate little fishes, which were most delicious,
And he ate them for breakfast and he ate them for tea.

But this poor little puffin, he couldn't play nothin',
'Cause he didn't have no-one to play with at all.
So he sat on his island and he cried for a while, and
He felt very lonesome and he felt very small.

Then along came the fishes and they said, "If you wishes,
You can have us for playmates, instead of for tea."
Now they all play together in all kinds of weather,
And the puffin eats pancakes, like you and like me.

--

That's some crazy ****, noddy.

I've seen puffins, although only at the Central Park Zoo in NYC. Sweet little birds. I like them as much as penguins.
Bald Eagles have become somewhat common in my area of the Catskills- now that they stopped using DDT.

Last week I was driving down a small country road and as I approached my turn, which was a road that winds around a lake, I noticed all of these ominous-looking birds clustered in a dead tree. My first thought was turkey vultures, but as I came a bit closer and parked my car under the tree I realized they were cormorants. About a dozen of them.

Every few minutes one or two of them would drop off a branch and make a lazy circle while being by dive-bombed byblackbirds. They paid little attention and casually returned to their branch.

My presence under the tree didn't seem to bother them at all. I watched them for about 15 minutes as I absently chewed on a very crisp apple.

Then I continued on, very relaxed after my free nature show.

There's a bald eagle of two that hang out, seasonally, near Boston. Bermits, they're around.

I'd love to see puffins!

Take a boat ride down the Mississippi sometimes. You'll soon have your fill of bald eagles.

Right - there must be tons of B.E. in New Hampshire. They live in cliffs near lakes and rivers. Anywhere where those two features coincide, in NH, could be home to them. Of course, that's nearly ALL of NH.

Puffins are on the way back. They are only seen in a few places, which is why I am pretty excited. http://www.projectpuffin.org/ will tell all you want to know.

Eagles - I really need to get out and look - it shouldn't be that hard, but...

Look for them in the winter/late winter:

It's been fun looking into bald eagle stats.

bermbits- I am so jealous. I too have seen puffins, but in the Bronx Zoo, never in the wild. They are such great little birds!!!

Before you get too envious, I saw bunches, but none really up close - I do have pictures, but they could be specks of dust (I took the wrong camera - I hope my friend did better with his BIG lens). I will post or link when (if) they come through.

My wife works at a local science center, so I have seen bald eagles up CLOSE! But I want to see them in the wild - those are the ones that really count for my small life list.

I was in the Boundry Waters one time, paddling a canoe across a lake, and encountered a full grown bull moose swimming in the water. I worked my canoe alongside the moose, and my friend climbed on to the moose's back. I have a few pictures around here somewhere of that incident.

I'll see if I can dig them up.

One year, when I was still living in NY, and "commuting" to Florida, I was driving along on Route 95. In South Carolina, I saw eagles on a number of tall, dead trees along the road. I also saw them in the Everglades.

I was standing under a big hige pine tree, looking at some scat. I knew it was bird scat, but figured it was an owl's because it had grey fur and mamalian bones in it. I was half watching my niece and nephew and stepped around the tree to get a better look. As Idid, I heard a great fwuft fwuft fwuft and looked up to see a BE leaving the tree I was under to put some distance between itself and us.

I sometimes read littlek's sentences and think, "Damn! Why can't I live such a life!"

Gus - post the pix!

Phoenix, I used to pass a dead tree which sat between a road and the Pecos River (south of santa fe, nm) that was a roost for a flock of turkey vultures. It was very very cool.

<chuckle>