Aug 10
Even though it's the second day and we haven't been to every location, Reef has become our favourite puffin photography location for many reasons. It is only a 5 minute drive from the only restaurant on the island- Trident. Besides that, there is a seal blind nearby where Arctic Fox is common and Northern Fur Seal is abundant.Reef also provides relatively safe standing spaces within 50 m from parking lot.
Horned Puffin
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| Horned Puffin |
Tufted Puffin
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| Tufted Puffin |
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| Tufted Puffin |
Common Murre
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| Common Murre |
Thick-billed Murre
Very similar to Common Murre overall, but TBMU has some white at the base of its beak while COMU doesn't.
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| Thick-billed Murre |
Red-faced Cormorant
juvenile bird has white cheek
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| Red-faced Cormorant |
Lapland Longspur
has moulted into non-breeding plumage like most songbirds on the island.
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| Lapland Longspur |
And here are some pictures of the seals at the blind. Since the 1950s, their population has dropped by more the 50%, and continues to decline at an alarming rate of 5.2% every year.
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| Northern Fur Seal |
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| Northern Fur Seal |
Reef
looking toward Otter Island in the distance and the closer Sea Lion Rock.
Reef
seabird cliffs
Reef
stands like this are used for counting seals.
Southwest Point
Fulmars, kittiwakes, murres, and puffins nest here as well.
Northern Fulmar
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| Northern Fulmar |
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| Northern Fulmar |
Rock Sandpiper
Good numbers of them can be seen walking along and on the trail.
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| Rock Sandpiper |
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| Rock Sandpiper |
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| Rock Sandpiper |
SW Point
Aug 11
In the morning, we checked out Northeast Point. Not the best place cliff birds, but I added King Eider(no photo) for life and Barrow's Goldeneye for the trip.
Barrow's Goldeneye
the only goldeneye seen on the island during my stay.
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| Barrow's Goldeneye |
Reef
Yay, we are back again.
This time, 3 foxes greeted us. All of them were napping next to the seal blind.
Arctic Fox
Most of them are dark.
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| Arctic Fox |
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| Arctic Fox |
Some are, eh, in a colouration that I don't really know how to describe.
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| Arctic Fox |
Common Murre
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| Common Murre |
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| Common Murre |
Crested Auklet
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| Crested Auklet |
Parakeet Auklet
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| Parakeet Auklet |
Red-faced Cormorant
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| Red-faced Cormorant |
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| Red-faced Cormorant |
Tufted Puffin
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| Tufted Puffin |
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| Tufted Puffin |
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| Tufted Puffin |
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch
Pribilof subspecies
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| Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch |
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| Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch |
Northern Fur Seal
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| Northern Fur Seal |
SW Point
Seals are often seen on the way to the SW Point.
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| Northern Fur Seal |
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| Northern Fur Seal |
Northern Fulmar
Most breeding pairs on St. Paul are light morph.
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| Northern Fulmar |
Bald Eagle
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| Bald Eagle |
All photos by Hung-Ming Tsai and myself(Ben Tsai)
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