As if it is skipping along the surface of the water, this black guillemot flashes its bright red feet and white wing patches as it takes to the air. It takes a good runway on the water for these little birds to gain the momentum they need to fly. Photo Courtesy of : Sue Schubel
Looking at its beautiful long plumes, it is no wonder that the great egret’s feathers were once worth twice their weight in gold. Today, however, it is illegal to hunt great egrets, and their colony on Stratton Island is protected. Even the Project Puffin bird biologists do not go into the wading bird colony during
Sunset on Stratton Island, Maine. This group of snowy egrets silently glides back to the pond in the center of the island where they pause before finding shelter for the evening in the old apple orchard which serves as a wading bird colony throughout the summer. Photo Courtesy of Janine Parziale
The process of flight for this juvenile osprey from Hog Island looks something like a springboard dive! Did you know that when young osprey first fledge they are often heavier than their parents? Imagine being fed freshly caught fish every morning, afternoon and evening without having to exercise. The osprey chicks gain a layer of
The P.N.: Puffin! Puffin! Thou dost go Through wild western gales that blow; Tell me, what discreet decree Prescrib’d thy strange pomposity? Why this fashion, thus to flight— Bill roug’d—dressed in black and white? What, as well, dost thou suppose, Is signified by outsiz’d nose? Puffin, puffin, answer me, Why thy clown’s formality? What attraction,
