Why are there so many collective nouns for a group of puffins? Is it an improbability that a circus of puffins would leave their colony in Newfoundland for a few minutes and form a burrow to investigate me on the last day of my trip in July? More on this later.

Atlantic Puffins spend about eight months over the Atlantic Ocean, resting and sleeping on the water. These photos were taken at another time in the waters around Svalbard.

Starting in late spring to summer, Atlantic Puffins travel to (among other places) Bonavista Peninsula in the Canadian Province of Newfoundland and Labrador to prepare their nests. By early July, it is the best of times for Atlantic Puffins because the Capelin, a fish that is their primary food source, are migrating to eastern Newfoundland on their way to spawning. It is a Capelin feast for the puffins. Many fish are also washing up on the nearby shores in the waters around Bonavista. Time is of the essence.

One of the best views of the Atlantic Puffins on the Bonavista Peninsula is on the mainland* across from an inaccessible island from which you hope the birds pop over to your side for a good photograph. Even with my 200-600mm lens I was still quite far from this puffin colony sharing the island with predatory gulls, who often spent their time trying to steal puffin eggs.

*Newfoundland is actually an island but I am referring to it as the mainland to distinguish it from the small island where the puffins nest

With the waterproof feathers that serve them so well the rest of the year in the Atlantic Ocean, they have no hesitancy going about their business of eating, nest-building  and incubating eggs in the changeable Newfoundland weather.

Whenever one to as many as ten puffins ventured over to my side on the mainland, I was able to position myself with the long lens to get a good shot while staying a safe distance from them. When not fishing, they diligently collected tufts of grass and wildflowers to decorate their burrows.

At other times, they just made a stop seemingly for a breather from the colony. Awkward-looking flyers, they tended to stay near where they landed at the cliff’s edge rather than venturing toward the gawking humans.

My vantage point with the telephoto lens also kept me safely away from the cliff edge while allowing me to photograph the puffins in flight from their island home. I was able to find a comfortable place to aim my lens at the incoming birds.

Multitudes of puffins in flight (a circus) regularly commute to and from the colony on their island on their singular quest to devour as much Capelin as possible. They will continue their fishing through the birth and fledgling of the chicks, who will also get to share.

But they form a small group or a burrow (also the name of where they nest) when they venture to the mainland. And, alas it is an improbability (a small group of young puffins and fledglings) to see the youngsters this early in the season. Chicks are about a month away. 

So, what about those investigative puffins I referred to at the beginning of this piece? Puffins are curious birds and a few of them could not help but check me out. One misty morning as I waited to capture a puffin-in-flight photo, I heard my friend Michael call to me to turn around. Three puffins had decided to check me out and courageously walked up behind me. They stood their ground though when I turned to look at them. Michael was able to snap a few action shots like the one at the top.

An extraordinary three days in Newfoundland with the quite photogenic and surprisingly curious Atlantic Puffins.

©2023 Donna L Passero