Early in the year the topic of Puffins arose between Michele, a fellow photographer co-worker of mine, about how we wanted see them in person and have the chance to photograph them in their own habitat. A local magazine had an article that highlighted pros and cons of each Maine Puffin tour, we both decided on Norton’s Puffin Tour due to having the option of actually getting on an island to view the Puffins- all but one other tour guide is not allowed to set foot. The island that Captain Norton is allowed to dock with is Machias Seal Island, an island only occupied by American and Canadian Game Wardens and of course various bird species and seals.

I woke up around 4:30am and left with Michele at 5am to arrive in Jonesport by 7:00am; on our way we saw several Blueberry harvesters in the fields of Machias and other Western-Maine towns. We arrived on time and boarded “The Chief”, an old Lobster boat that had been refitting to hosts roughly 25 people- thankfully we only had 18 people on this trip which allowed everyone a seat. We set sail and shortly after leaving the harbor the weather dropped by at least 15 degrees, the seas were very calm. After an hour we the island was in sight with Puffins throughout the air, sea and land; as we got closer more wildlife came in to view, Puffins, Razorbill Auks, Grey Seals and even a spouting whale in the distance. The captain said the island hosts 3,000 Puffins which I had a difficult time believing but now that I have actually been to the island that has changed. Once we were on the island Michele, myself and two other photographers went into a 5′x7′ shed with little spy windows. Once we heard the pitter patter of Puffins on top of our shack we opened the blinds and to my surprise Puffins were everywhere, literally covering the rocks for as far as the island spans. Puffins make an interesting call or chatter that is similar to the noise of a chainsaw in the distance.

After a few minutes, Puffins gradually moved closer to the blinds allowing us to see them up close; they are such a unique creature, no larger than an American football, with orange feet, black feathered wings, their rear plumage consists of coarse black hair, the same with the chest and belly but white and the features that makes these birds so unique is that their black eyes are immediately surrounded by an orange and red triangle with a similar colored large beak, their head capped with the black plumage with white face. Their look resembles a mix between contentedness and sadness when viewed from the side. The Puffin is a member of the Auk species which is interesting as their cousins; the Razorbill Auks are very different in terms of their color.

We were in the blinds for over an hour which is more time than most people are allowed, I was able to take roughly 200 shots; unfortunately I was overwhelmed by how many Puffins there were- I did not think enough to capture them during their normal routines of fighting, cleaning, squawking and beak rubbing. After an hour of watching and photographing the birds we re-boarded The Chief and headed back to the shore; I slept most of the way back despite the loud motor.

We stopped by one of Michele’s family run business; they harvest and process Blueberries right out of their garage. They built a machine to separate the Blueberries from the bushels; the entry point of the machine has a vibrating conveyor belt to remove twigs and rocks, the belt proceeds through an enclosed vent that sucks up leaves, the berries are then dropped down on to another conveyor belt where they are dispensed in to different size Blueberry boxes. After visiting for awhile, we drove down the road to their Blueberry store that ironically is designed to resemble a Blueberry from the outside; being a conosur of berries I purchased two scones and a Blueberry Pie.

Today was one of those beautiful summer days that you just need to experience every time they occur; the temperature was hovering around 75 degrees, the skies were mostly clear with a very light breeze. Some of my favorite ways to enjoy such as day are as follows: Four wheeling, hiking, walking in a field barefoot, kayaking, driving down the road along the coast with the windows down, sitting above the coast listening to the waves below, playing Xbox and swimming.

After Church, I decided to put my kayak to use and headed to Eddington which is ten miles from Bangor. Eddington hosts a few ponds and streams, one being Chemo pond. While I was unloading my kayak a man with a Saab was loading his kayak onto his Thule Hull-a-Port- a system that I am considering purchasing for my car as the foam blocks are not working out that well. I asked him how his trip was and his thoughts on the Thule system; he explained that he does not regret the purchase and that they make the entire trip more enjoyable due to the ease of use.

I set sail and sighted a destination for today’s trip; a stream on the south eastern edge of the pond. Streams and small rivers are one of my favorite bodies of water due to the amount of wildlife and plant life that you can encounter. This stream’s width fluctuated from 10′ to 40′ throughout its many twists and turns and hosted beds of Lilly Pads at every bend giving off a sweet aroma. The shoreline was lined with thick berry bushes, exposed stumps, Pitcher plants, mud clad mounds and razor grass. The water was very calm and clear which allowed me to view fish swimming along the bed of the stream, Painted turtles sunbathing at the surface of the water, Bull frogs basking in the sun on Lilly pads and beavers moving hewed trees. As I neared the end of the stream, beavers had built a dam that I could not transpose but it did however allow me to utilize my new 70-300mm lens. While relaxing in my kayaking, taking in the sun, listening to the water trickle over the cluster of twigs and branches, Sparrows and Goldfinches chirp I heard splashing near by; the reason why I waited had come to fruition, two young beavers were swimming around enjoying the sun. I was able to quietly paddle close enough to them so that my lens could reach in on one of the beavers scurrying a way from me; they are very agile in the water.

Today one of my co-workers and friend David, stopped by my place and asked if I wanted to go to the coast; he stated that he wanted show me a few places around Scoodic Point that many people do not know about. We headed out and arrived about an hour later, I have never been to Scoodic Point before so I was curious as to what I was going to see. It’s a National Byway / Park that circles around the peninsular and the road is one-way only which makes the drive much easier to stop and go which is almost always a guarantee when visiting as there are many places to explore along the coast line. One of the areas we stopped at as at first appearance a normal coast trail where the bed of the forest was covered with ledge, loose soil, snake berry shrubs and surfaced roots from the pine trees when suddenly the tree line stopped and the ledge plummeted 50′ down to the Ocean; there’s a section of the ledge that resembles a small peninsula that’s roughly 5′ wide and 30′ long that runs out over the Ocean. This vantage point provides an excellent place to sit and take in the sun and let the scent of the salty Ocean and the cool breeze off the Atlantic wash over you as you listen to the waves crash against the ledge below. I wasn’t able to capture the scene properly as David was in a hurry but I was able to snap a few photos. The trail we took earlier split left and right, we headed down the left trail which brings you to a similar scene but provides a less sheltered view the coast, the water was very bright and green almost like an emerald which is something I’ve always found fascinating.

A little later on we stopped at a rest stop that at one point hosted an active lava tunnel where magma spewed up from the cracks of the ledge and into the Ocean which you can clearly see. The ledge beach provided a good place to sit and watch waves crash literally in front of you while being cooled from its mist. There’s an area that consists mostly of boulders that were once covered by dirt that the Ocean eroded as far as it could reach and at the top of the boulders are pine trees that let in pieces of the setting sun’s rays; scenes like this always remind me of of God’s Glory shinning down on you.

This summer I wanted to focus on visiting other “tourist” sites that I have either not visited myself or have not visited in awhile, so I took Friday off from work and headed to Bucksport, Maine. Earlier this week I was reading through a book Jack had gave me for Christmas, “Quiet Water Maine” and found several options for this weekend, after reading each of the lakes high-points I decided to visit Silver Lake, because of its size, layout and it’s located near the new Penobscot Narrows Bridge along with Fort Knox.

I arrived at Silver Lake and found that two other people were Bass fishing in various spots. I put in around 9am, the sun was roughly 3 hours above the horizon which gleamed across the western portion of the lake that created a nice are to sun bath along the muddy shoreline for a Muskrat; although I believe it was actually diving for soft-shell clams. I tried to get my camera out in time to photograph it but Muskrats are very quick in the water. I found a very shallow portion of the sore that had roughly 50 opened shells which obviously must of been a feeding ground for the Muskrat; it had quick access to the water, the shore and cover from small shrubs that had possibly flooded this spring. I followed the shoreline for awhile looking for turtles and after 30 minutes I found a young outstretched Painted turtle a foot down sunbathing on a clay mound.

I paddled by an island within the lake lined with jagged ledge that would rise high enough to climb and at times plunge beneath the surface only visible when the sun was piercing the shallow water. In the distance I noticed a large bird perched on stump in the marshy portion of the lake, once I got closer I could tell it was a Great Cormorant with its distinctive pose (partially outstretched wings shaped as an M). Near the end of my kayak trip I spotted two Loons diving for fish, I think they are very exquisite looking; their long sharp bills used for stabbing prey, black head / neck with maroon eyes, white belly with a black back and white speckles. They are very illusive, I followed them for roughly 30 minutes before giving up on them- I was able to snap one decent shot of them with my 28-135mm lens.

After spending another 30 minutes fighting the unforcasted strong wind I loaded up and headed towards down-town Bucksport where the Penobscot Narrows Bridge is located. I found a nice walkway that follows the shoreline of Penobscot River, it overlooks Fort Knox and the Narrows bridge. I crossed the bridge for the first time and it was much more narrow then it appears (Narrows does not come from that though rather from what the colonists 150 years ago named this passage). There’s an official rest-site to view the bridge from its best angle with a plaque explaining the history of the bridge and narrows, the road that this site lays was once beneath a few hundred feet of ledge that was blown out for new passage to and from the west side of the bridge. I signed in to the visiting area for Fort Knox and the Narrows bridge and parked directly below and in-between the new Penobscot Narrows Bridge and the old Waldo-Hancock Bridge, which provided an interesting perspective of the two. From the 440 foot observatory pylon, you can see 60 miles as the crow flies on a clear day; I could just make out the outline of Mt. Katahdin. The view from the top was incredible, from the vantage point I can see why the colonists chose the location for Fort Knox as it provides excellent coverage of the Penobscot and Orland river that converge from the invading British.

I drove to Kokadjo Saturday afternoon to visit with Dad and Karen, they were not around so I walked next-door (or should I say camper) to my Aunt and Uncle’s to grill a few burgers and visit. Once Dad arrived we drove around on the logging roads looking for Black bear and Moose; while driving down the road we heard an alarmingly loud crashing in the woods, we looked over and to our shock a bull Moose jumped out of the woods and ran parallel with the truck, if Dad would have stuck his arm out the window he could have pet the Moose. We stopped a few miles and jumped over a fence the logging company had installed and walked down a trail that lead us to log cabin encompassed by pine trees. There’s a patch of woods that stretches for 1/8th of a mile until it meets the shoreline of a pond, the bedding of the forest was lined with orange pine needles giving off the sweet aroma of pine and pitch. As we walked back towards the truck a young Bull Moose walked out in front of us and observed a creature that it probably as never smelt before. On our way back to the camp we crossed over Lazy Tom Stream, the sun was just about to meet the horizon behind Big Spencer Mountain; which illuminated the cloudy sky which reflected beautifully off the calm water, the only disturbance you could see came from a Moose in search of a meal.

Today I decided to head to Baxter State Park which is a two hour drive from home. The foliage is peaking in that region of Maine which makes an enjoyable day trip if you like foliage and taking photographs, both of which I enjoy very much.

Once I arrived at Millinocket you could begin to see Mt. Katahdin, the largest mountain in Maine and also the last mountain of the Appalachian Trail. I have never climbed it, but would love to some day. The Maine foliage website was correct; the leaves were at peak- everywhere you looked leaves were bright yellow, orange and red with a mixture of green pine. The Golden road is so beautiful, there are many places to pull over and get into the woods to fully experience the foliage. I took a few photos in the woods where the bed of the forest was blanketed with yellow leaves and orange pine needles, the scent is indescribable, I wish I could bring that scent home with me. After walking around for awhile I decided to head on, the skies were starting to cloud over which was very discomforting to me. I found another little path down the road that lead to the State power lines that circles around the park, from there a small vista of Mt. Katahdin formed. I came across yet another interesting rest area that featured a large boulder with a painting of a Black Bear near a stream that was title “Keep Maine Beautiful”. While leaving the rest area you had to actually drive about ½ mile from the Golden Road which places Katahdin behind you, I took this photo while driving down the road… there’s not a lot of places in the US where you can have sights like this.

I arrived at Abol Bridge and found one of the better places up close to take a photo of Mt. Katahdin, unfortunately at the time it was cloudy. I waited for about 20 minutes and the skies started to clear and I was able to take a few decent photos from Abol along with a nice photo stitch (cropped version). After hanging out at the bridge I headed back towards Millinocket, I decided to take a different route home and found this nice little spot. I wish I could travel more often, I love staring in awe of God’s Creation, it’s undeniably perfect.