Seabird Scouting & Puffin Prospects

Welcome to a recap of August 3rd, 2024’s “Seabird Scouting & Puffin Prospects” excursion—a trip designed to connect the community to Washington State listed endangered Tufted Puffins while also supporting the Northwest Straits Foundation and the shoreline restoration work they do throughout the Salish Sea. A guest aboard this excursion summed up our afternoon/evening trip theme by saying, “great things come to those who wait.” And indeed, after a delayed departure, and a somewhat slow wildlife start, AMAZING sightings slowly started trickling in, ticking themselves off of our “REALLY want” list, and our “didn’t expect this!” list, as well.

A warm, early-August evening provided us with sunshine, a breeze, and the bubbling anticipation of a group of people that were excitedly waiting to get out on the water—our coveted target species being, first: the Tufted Puffin; second: the elusive, rare Horned Puffin.

Early August is within the seasonal window to expect that Tufted Puffins will be nearby Smith and Minor Islands, and one of my favorite times to go find them. At this stage of the breeding season, some individuals should be foraging for small bait fish they’ll be bringing back to the puffling (yes, baby puffin = puffling) they’re rearing in one of the burrows that dot the high bluffs along the western-facing side of Smith. Horned puffins, however, are extremely rare in the Salish Sea. The closest established breeding colony is off the northwest tip of Vancouver Island, some 350 miles away as the crow flies, with all other colonies occurring north of this location. But, for the last 6 seasons, there has been an individual (now TWO individuals—confirmed just this past week with photo proof) who have been showing up at Smith, as well. Birders throughout the Salish Sea come to this area with the hopes of spying a Horned Puffin at this location—and, of course, guests on this excursion held the same desire (as did I)! Wildlife does wild things, and so I never make any promises. But you can be sure I hope right along with everyone.

Departing Skyline Marina and heading due south, southeast past Burrows and Allan Islands, we set out for Smith and Minor Islands without stops to ensure we had plenty of time to scout out for our number one and number two on the list. Below is the route we took throughout our 3 hour excursion.

As we neared the invisible line between the southern part of Rosario Strait and the Strait of Juan de Fuca (from the south end of Lopez Island toward Deception Pass) , the tidal currents and breeze were making for quite the “washing machine” effect of churning water. These conditions would prove challenging when trying to locate 13-16” long puffins in between some of these swells, but we got down to the task while hanging on tight!

As we cruised past the southeastern side of Smith, several species of gulls, cormorants, Bald Eagles, and auks, like Pigeon Guillemots and Rhinoceros Auklets, were present. Continuing to scan through my binoculars with the boat pushing further west, southwest, I noticed some movement along the outer edges of the kelp bed quite close to our vessel—a sea otter! We stopped to view this sleepy individual who was wrapped up in bull kelp to keep themselves from being carried off by the swells. Not quite the birds we had in mind, but definitely a delightful “did not expect” addition to our lists!

A view from the west looking back toward Mount Baker and Smith Island Sleepy sea otter wrapped up in bull kelp just west of Smith Island

While viewing this sea otter was something special (not many are found commonly in our area of the Salish Sea), I must admit, I was really feeling the pressure to find a puffin—any puffin! Guests aboard were trying hard to remain upright and in good spirits, but I could tell the swells were more than some of them had bargained for—and trust me, it was more than I bargained for, too! Trying to peer through binoculars while in the rolling waves was making me feel a little green, as well! Thankfully, and as if on cue, a Tufted Puffin popped up from beneath the surface just off the bow of our boat with long, silvery forage fish draped in their beak! The collective excitement that ensued drowned out my collective sigh of relief. ;)

To all of our amazement this individual kept diving for more fish. As the puffin would slip under the water, a small school of these fish would begin bubbling up near the surface, trying hard to escape the pursuing puffin! When the puffin would surface, the bubbling jacuzzi of bait fish would cease, but as soon as this individual took its next dive the cycle started all over again. Watching this little puffin quickly and gracefully glide under the water was a rare treat in itself and gave us all the opportunity to see just how well those paddle-shaped wings assist them under the water. Witnessing this behavior is something I won’t soon forget!

It was as if we just needed to find the first Tufted Puffin to begin spotting more. From our general area, we found a pair motoring on the surface together, saw two in flight headed for the burrows, and spotted several others pursuing bait fish. We may not have been thrilled at the current sea conditions, but I wonder if the churning of the water column was beneficial to their pursuits, slowing up the escape route of the fish they were targeting?

While mostly everyone on board was engrossed in viewing this small, scattered group of Tufted Puffins, I went back to work scanning through binoculars desperately hoping to find a Horned Puffin. As I scanned through small groups of Rhinoceros Auklets and Pigeon Guillemots, the occasional Common Murre would cause me to pause and double check; they have white undersides—exactly the field mark I was looking for (along with a matching white face) that distinguishes Tufted Puffins from Horned Puffins. After doing a couple slow, 360 degree scans, I was beginning to think the horned just might be out of reach on this trip. But then, out in the distance, I saw a bird rise up, fluff its bright white underside and dark wings, and then settle back down onto the surface. I swore there was a flash of white and some bright color on the face, too.

“Uh, Brock!!!” I yelled up to our captain. “I think I have the Horned Puffin!! Between 12 and 1 out in the distance—half a mile or more!”

And immediately, all eyes, lenses, and binoculars shifted toward the distance. Our captain had not quite gotten eyes on it just yet, but moved the vessel in the general direction. I kept my eyes on the spot through my binoculars hoping I hadn’t just cried wolf from the few seconds of white I had seen. If it turned out to be a Common Murre…

“Yup! There!!” Someone else on board now had the bird in their sights. My heart was about ready to beat out of my chest.

We motored over slowly, watching this little loner paddle along between the decreasing swells. The pale yellow and bright red beak was very visibly different from the other puffins we were just with. They also lacked those blonde “tufts” that their cousins are named for. I turned to my birding buddy, that had joined this trip with the singular hope of seeing this bird, and jokingly said, “I did my job!!” I think she, along with the other guests, agreed. We’d found the coveted puffin unicorn.

And what a wonderful encounter with this individual. When I have been lucky enough to encounter this bird over the past few seasons, they are often not very cooperative, skittish, and disappear quite quickly. But that evening, its as if this bird could sense the adoration from all of its onlookers, because it stayed around long enough to satisfy everyone with a camera. I was even able to get in a couple photos to share with those guests that didn’t have cameras. We were now riding the high of adding giant checkmarks next to target species one and two—and good thing! This group had definitely earned it by braving the choppy conditions we’d been dealt. Leaving the Horned Puffin to continue on about its business, the captain turned our vessel to move on to other rocky outcroppings. We were curious to see how many more species we might add to our trip list.

Moving north to the south end of Lopez Island, we motored between the mainland and Castle Rock. It was a bit quiet through the area, save for a rattling female Belted Kingfisher, so we pushed onward into Rosario Strait heading for Bird Rocks.

Bird Rocks is aptly named and is a series of three small rocks that are protected under the San Juan Island National Wildlife Refuge designation—one of 83 ecologically important spots recognized throughout the San Juan Archipelago. These rocks support nesting gulls, oystercatchers, and cormorants, among other birds that forage and rest here, while also providing an undisturbed haul out site for harbor seals, Steller sea lions, and recently (the last few seasons) a foraging spot for another sea otter. This was a first for me (in eight seasons of being out on the Salish Sea regularly), where two separate sea otters have made an appearance in a singular trip. It’s pretty lucky when you find one. Two? Unheard of in these parts. This just goes to show that you never stop experiencing the wonder and magic of the Salish Sea, no matter how many times, or how often, you go out!

Sea otter number 2 at Bird Rocks

Now, onto the birds we found at this location!

Sunset was closing in and casting everything in warm, golden hues. Putting the source of that light behind us to highlight the birds in front of us, we were able to begin spotting a lot of small movement, both in the water and along the rocks. Glaucous-winged gulls and their fuzzy chicks, along with all three species of cormorants found in our area were present (Pelagic, Double-crested, Brandt’s); we had a Common Murre curled up and pressed into the rocks just above the tideline; Black Oystercatchers, Black Turnstones, and Surf Birds were in small congregations, either picking through the intertidal for their last meals of the day or resting. There were a few female Harlequin Ducks surfing through the fast-moving breakwater that flows between the gaps of these three rocks; Pigeon Guillemots were either paddling in pairs just off the rocks or settled onto a resting place just above the tideline near some turnstones or Heermann’s gulls. And we picked out a couple harbor seals as they were thermoregulating and resting, blending in seamlessly to their intertidal environment.

Top to Bottom and Left to Right: Black Oystercatcher Pair; Black Turnstones with one Pigeon Guillemot (on the right side of the frame); Common Murre; one Brandt’s Cormorant amongst the Heermann’s gulls; harbor seals.

Fuzzy Glaucous-winged gull chicks!

As the light continued to fade, we knew our time on the water and with the wildlife was just about up. Relishing in some last looks of all the winged wonders at Bird Rocks, Captain Brock pointed the vessel east to cover the last few miles back to Skyline Marina. The following two photos are some of my favorite captures I’ve ever taken of Bird Rocks, a nod to the stunning lighting we had; the photo on the left was the view from the northwest side looking northeast toward Mount Baker through a parade of flying cormorants, and the photo on the right was looking back southeast (the mainland in the distance) at the roosting site of Double-crested Cormorants in the last light.

I can’t express the pure joy I felt in being able to offer this excursion. Of course it’s always the BEST when the wildlife we’re seeking is found, and one of my favorite things to do is introduce people that have never seen puffins before to the Tufted Puffins that use Smith Island as their summer breeding site. But more importantly, I watched as guests celebrated these wildlife views as a community, listened as they swapped stories with each other and pointed out birds to their neighbors, and was delighted at the camaraderie fostered by being onboard this small group excursion with like-minded individuals. The cherry on top was being able to collect and donate $400 to the Northwest Straits Foundation—all of the profit from this trip! I hope everyone that joined in had a wonderful time and can feel good about boosting a cause that helps put more forage fish into the Salish Sea—the food that Tufted Puffins need if they are going to stick around in these part of the Salish Sea.

You can find the eBird trip report, with species seen and counts, here (minus Castle Rock, so remember to add Belted Kingfisher to your personal lists): https://ebird.org/tripreport/267132

Until the next adventure!