Seal Island NWR 6/27

So a while ago I went to Seal Island NWR and had a fantastic day. I saw tons of alcids and lots of other neat birds. One of the most memorable things for me had to be a fight I saw between two Razorbills:

Razorbills are closely related to Puffins which also were present on the Island:

I had never seen a Puffin prior to this trip so needless to say I was very excited about it!!! Puffins actually breed on the island and were one of my primary targets for the trip. The number 1 target was a Red-tailed Tropicbird that's been seen on the island over the past few summers.

Unfortunately we struck out with the Tropicbird. But that happens from time to time! You just don't get to see everything.

We did get to see lots of other birds though including Arctic Terns which are not very common in NH. In fact only 6 pairs breed in NH and I've never had such knee-buckling views as I did near Seal Island in Maine:

All in all I had a great time and got to see tons of Puffins, Razorbills, and other Alcids like the Common Murre on the left 1/3 of the photo below. Yes, those are puffins on the rocks to the right!!!

Sometimes its nice to get away and just enjoy something new and different. I've never seen anything like a breeding colony of alcids before and... it was definitely worth the trip. Hopefully one day I'll see a puffin in NH, but if I don't... At least I had the awesome experience of seeing them on their nests!