Regular readers of my blog may recall that I cross-stitch an ornament every year for our Christmas tree.  This year’s subject was a no-brainer – what was one of the most incredible things we did this year?  Go see puffins, of course!

I thought the ornament turned out pretty well.  It looks very similar to one of the pictures from my trip to Machias Seal Island…

On our boat ride back from Machias Seal Island, one of the other photographers noted that I hadn’t yet wiped the grin off my face.  He asked me how long I’d be grinning.  Well, I still am!  It was such an amazing trip.  Being within arm’s length of such cute little birds was beyond incredible.

This was one of the few puffin interaction shots from my morning in the bird blinds.  Most of the puffins were by themselves, either landing on the rock in front of us, or taking off from it.  These guys were cute as they seemed to talk together.  Look at those beaks!

The guy in the front of this shot seems to be looking into the bird blind and wondering who the photographers are inside!  I bet they were as curious about us as we were about them.

The puffins were such fun to watch as they hopped along the rocks.  They were keeping a close eye on the eggs in the nest cavities in the rocks.  You could tell that these birds weren’t really built for being on land.  They were a lot less clumsy when airborne!

I chuckled as I saw the bird above tuck his beak into his wing and settle down for a nap.  He didn’t quite manage to tuck away all that color!