![]() The Project Puffin Visitor Center in Rockland is a great place for people of all ages to learn about the puffin and experience hands-on exhibits. Machias Seal Island is the only island that visitors can land on and view puffins from close range behind blinds. Some have naturalists on board to share details about the birds and their island homes. Tour boats depart from Jonesport, Cutler, Bar Harbor, Millbridge, Stonington, Rockland, Boothbay Harbor, New Harbor and Port Clyde depending on which puffin colony you wish to visit. Early in the day the birds can be seen flying between the nest and the water bringing food to their young, while late-day activity is more relaxed with loafing on the rocks or rafting together on the surface of the water. The best months to see puffins from tour boats are June and July, but excursions to the islands happen from May through August. Their white face and small black eyes give them the look of a clown with wings. The small, photogenic birds have a black back and head, white belly, orange legs and feet, a white face and a stout but powerful beak outlined in orange. Eastern Egg Rock in the midcoast region, Seal Island and Matinicus Rock at the mouth of Penobscot Bay, and Machias Seal Island and Petit Manan Island off the downeast coast provide habitat for more than 4,000 puffins each summer. Learning more about what these charming seabirds feed their young, and how this differs between colonies, will help build a clearer picture as to why some populations are thriving whilst others struggle.Maine ocean islands provide the only nesting sites for Atlantic puffins in the United States. Your images will play a pivotal role in helping our scientists in their work to save the puffin from disappearing from UK shores. Some have naturalists on board to share details about the birds and their island homes. Together, you make up a huge collective of on-the-field conservationists from all corners of the UK. Don’t forget: Try to make sure the beak of the puffin and the fish are the main focus.There is no need to waste time cropping the images, just upload them to the Project Puffin portal in JPEG format. Join Pembrokeshires award winning landscape and wildlife photographer Drew Buckley on a group photography workshop.Colour images are best, as this will allow the scientists to easily ID the fish.Puffins can be very sensitive to movements and noise so be careful not to get to close.Try photographing when the puffin has just landed with a break full of fish after a trip out to sea. ![]() Getting a perfect image of a bird in mid-flight is extremely hard as it’s continuously on the move.Wildlife photography can be tricky but there are a few simple things you can do to help grab a great Puffarazzi photo! To find your nearest puffin hotspot, visit 3. Although the most impressive can be found at Bempton Cliffs in Yorkshire, Lunga near the Isle of Mull and Rathlin Island in Northern Ireland. There are puffin hotspots all around the UK, from the tip of the Shetland Islands all the way down to St Helen’s Island in the south west of England. During this period a bustling puffin colony is usually a frenzy of energetic parents busy foraging food for their little ones. Coastlines around the UK will come alive with the sights, sounds (and smells!) of parents raising their pufflings. Throughout June and July is the best time to photograph a puffin. These images will be used to learn more about what mamma and pappa puffin are feeding their pufflings, to build up a better picture of their feeding habits in the UK and Ireland!īut where do you go to see puffins? How do you snap the perfect ‘Puffarazzi’ picture? We’ve asked our resident wildlife photography expert Ben Andrew for his top tips! We’re asking people to send us their snaps of these unmistakeable seabirds carrying fish in their bills. What could be pushing one of the nation's most charming and recognisable birds to such a cliff edge? This summer RSPB scientists are aiming to find out more by taking a closer look at the fish they eat - and they need your help! Puffin numbers have declined dramatically in recent years with a mystery surrounding the reasons behind their struggles.
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