Puffins and Stoats

Last week I was able to take a boat ride with Oliver and Jenny and a batch of guests to Duck Island, to see the last of the puffins before they leave for the winter. We saw a whole bunch rafting in the ocean, and more were nesting on the island itself. I’m still trying to figure out how to “track” the flying birds with my camera to take a clear image, while at the same time just watch and enjoy them in real time! I think I’m better at watching than photographing so far. But I wanted to give you guys an idea of how many birds there were, clear or not.

Besides the puffins and the bears, Oliver and I had a close encounter with another animal. On the way back to our cabin one afternoon, we looked up to see a little stoat perched in the doorway of the neighboring shed. We froze, thinking he would be scared away, but to our surprise, he was very curious and stuck around. Eventually we even grabbed our cameras and came back, and he ran right up to our boots and looked up at us! He was pretty young still, and it was quite cute to see him running around on feet that he hadn’t quite grew into yet. So fearless, and very very fast! I think of everything so far, the little stoat has been my favorite.

One thing I didn’t capture on film was the orca sighting we had a day ago on a halibut trip. The fishing was bad, but the weather was great, and when we saw those huge fins come cresting out of the water only 75 yards or so from the boat, it made the whole trip a success. We estimated that the biggest male’s dorsal fin was over six feet high! He came the closest, with a female by his side, and in the distance we saw another five whales surfacing. It was just the neatest thing you could imagine, and so unexpected. In 25 years of living here, Oliver had never seen an orca before. So cool!

`Danielle