Brent Wilson
St Andrews, CA
Member since December 8, 2020
Most Viewed
In pursuit
An Atlantic puffin, loaded up with a catch of juvenile herring, pursued closely by a razorbill in its' return to the nesting site. This feeding strategy, also known as kleptoparasitism, is used by some animals to theive food items and save on the potential time and effort that would otherwise be required to obtain them. In this case, the puffin successfully evaded the razorbill and returned to the colony with meal in beak.
Bunchberry closeup
A bunchberry in soft lighting on the forest floor of a spruce stand. These plants are so abundant in our softwood forests they are easily overlooked, though they do have an interesting characteristic in that they produce one of the fastest plant actions known.
Seal entering sea
A harbour seal slipping into the waters off North Rock, near Machias Seal Island.
A fox vixen with her catch
I was able to watch this fellow for 30+ minutes as it hunted along the ditch of several kilometres of back road. It didn't seem to pay much heed to me and would briefly strike a pose before trotting on further or going on to listening at the roadside for a potential catch. It was interesting to watch her initially as she carried this previous catch her for quite some time. I thought she may be taking it back to feed her kits, but rather was looking for water; after a drink from a puddle she ate it in three bites!
Portrait of an puffin
It was great to make it over to Machias Seal Island off Grand Manan after several years of scheduling conflicts and weather hampering the trip (and almost again this year with pandemic travel restrictions). The island is one of few nesting colonies for Atlantic puffin and razorbills in the region and are easily viewed from behind blinds around the island. A great tour and certainly grateful to finally have had the opportunity to see these fellows close up!