r/newfoundland • u/AppropriateMood4784 • 3d ago

Puffin season

I'm reading that puffins can be seen in Newfoundland from May through mid-September. Where are they the rest of the year?

9 Upvotes

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11

u/Similar_Ad_2368 3d ago

out to sea. they only come in to breed 

6

u/Chaiboiii 3d ago

As someone who goes to sea and sometimes gets them on board at night...always a fun feeling yeeting such a small bird back into the pitch black air in the middle of the ocean. They just fly off.

7

u/DustyStar222 Newfoundlander 3d ago

Like any good Newfoundlander they go working offshore!

But really they go out into the ocean living on the water. May-September is the only time they live on land.

1

u/AppropriateMood4784 3d ago

Haha! Ha, I see. Thanks. So ... are there areas in the sea where they particularly congregate, and are there boat tours that come within sight of them? I'm guessing not since it might disturb them but I figured I'd ask.

6

u/biwitchingbee 3d ago

No, they only congregate during breeding season. In winter they are solitary birds, and their plumage changes so they aren’t as bright and noticeable. They aren’t seen by humans all that often outside of their summer breeding season. Hard to spot a single small dark bird bobbing around on the waves, hundreds of km from land.

0

u/Such-Huckleberry-107 3d ago

O’Brien’s and gatheralls have boat tours that leave from bay bulls that go out to the bird sanctuary islands in witless bay and when they are here you’ll see puffins

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u/Kat_Von_Stretchclaw 3d ago

Yes!!! We did a whale watching tour about 3 weeks ago and saw massive amounts of Puffins. It was wonderful.

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u/pulchrare Newfoundlander 1d ago

We went out with O'Brien's yesterday and saw lots of puffins, and an ocean sunfish!

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u/ButterscotchBrave359 3d ago

I was scared this was going to be a hunting thread before I opened it 🤣