Machias Seal Island is the summer home of the largest puffin colony on the coast of Maine. Shelley Trucksis visited this island in the Bay of Fundy in June 2022 before she joined our group. She thought you may be interested in her amazing trip. Our members love birds and love to travel! We love to feature stories and photos from our members throughout the year so you can “Travel with SIB.” Let us know if you have a story you’d like to share about your travels! But now, here’s Shelley’s trip to Machias Seal Island.
Machias Seal Island is a small, low-lying rocky offshore island situated ten miles from Cutler, Maine, the closest point of departure on the U.S. mainland. The Island is in the Bay of Fundy and its ownership is disputed, with both the United States and Canada claiming sovereignty, and designated a bird sanctuary by both countries.
Our trip started out from my home in Wayland, Massachusetts with two of my sisters, Claire and Anne, who joined me from New Jersey. Cutler, Maine was our destination, about 350 miles from Wayland and 6 hours by car. There is only one company, Bold Coast Charter Company who is authorized by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to land on the island and have their passengers disembark to view the birds from bird blinds. They take only 15 passengers on a trip.
We boarded our boat at Cutler in a charming scenic bay for our 45-minute trip to the Island. As you move up the coast you pass the Little River Lighthouse near the entrance to Cutler Harbor.
We arrived at the Island to the site of soaring and bobbing birds. A small landing skiff transported us from the tour boat to the island. To reach the bird blinds we needed to hold a stick vertically over our heads to ward off the arctic terns who were nesting on the ground on the edge of the path to the blinds. They defend their nests by soaring down to hit your head and so you rapidly move up the path and into the blinds to cause minimal disturbance to the nesting terns.
The bird blinds allow up close views of the birds as they land on the rocks right in front of the windows and you can hear them landing on top of the blinds. Being up close with these charming and comical birds was a delight.
Besides the Atlantic Puffin (aka Common Puffin) (1000), we saw Common Eider (15), Common Murre (20), Razorbill (50), Black Guillemot (22), Common Tern (1), Arctic Tern (41), Northern Gannet (1), Peregrine Falcon (1), Cormorant (1), Barn Swallow (6), and Savannah Sparrow (8). In addition to the birds we also viewed gray seals on the rocks and in the water.
This was truly a wonderful and unique trip. The puffins nest on the island to rear their young in June and July each year. Tours book early as there is limited space. The website has all the information (https://www.boldcoast.com/index.htm).
Submitted and photos by Shelley Trucksis and Anne Macaluso
SIB 