As we were exploring the area the previous day we noticed a breakfast place nearby so we stop there today to order some food. And coffee from a nearby small coffee shop. The coffee takes surprisingly long to make, the food is ready before the coffee. But all is forgiven as both are great and with new energy we go to the Homer Spit to find an agency that can take us to the puffins.
Finding a parking spot is surprisingly very difficult to find and in the end we park in a paid dirt parking lot and then explore the different kiosks. Unfortunately many are closed or don’t have prices or cruises. Finally we find one that works for us and we book a tour from 1 PM so now we have some time to burn before the cruise.
First we explore the harbor area in more depth. We are surprised at how low the water is vs. the shore and then we notice the access points and decide to explore how we can get down to the docks.
The way down is surprisingly steep, and we are not encouraged when we notice multiple people having trouble going down. Even the local pigeons seem to watch the way down carefully, maybe they are hoping someone will slip and will drop food on the ground.
There are a few other birds around, lots of gulls especially near the fish cannery and savannah sparrows near the grassy areas.
The harbor is on a spit of land with the boats on one side and on the other side a wild beach that we decide to explore. But first we visit the different stores on the spit itself, there are some interesting galleries and souvenir shops that we explore before finally descending to the beach.
There are few other people on the shore so we decide to explore it a bit and just enjoy the beautiful weather, similarly to what a bald eagle is doing further away.
There are some great views from the shore and we guess that the tide is out given that it seems to us that we are walking on sand that is usually covered with water. We also see a few crabs and some clams as we explore the shallows but it is getting late so we decide to first go home for a couple hours to eat some snacks before our boat ride.
We return in time for our boat ride which is a bit late so we have time to spend on the dock waiting for it. One thing that the girl that brought us to the dock was able to show us was an anemone under the dock which we watch until the boat arrives.
We are the only passengers on the way out besides the captain and his daughter who is helping him which is nice as we have the passenger side of the boat for ourselves. While in the harbor the boat is slow which lulls us in a false sense of security.
Because as soon as we are out of the harbor it is off to the races and we are forced to retreat in the cabin as the water jumps on board a few times in the exposed area of the boat. But soon we are at Gull Island, the island we wanted to visit, and the boat slows down again as we start searching for interesting waterbirds.
The island is full of Common Murres and Black-legged Kittiwakes but what we are looking for are puffins and soon enough the captain notices a pair of tufted puffins, it is great to see them. They are relatively rare among the other waterbirds but we still see a few pair as the boat makes its way around the island.
The island itself is quite small but scenic with an impressive arch on one end.
As we arrive on the other side of the island the captain points to us a juvenile bald eagle. it is quite hidden between the birds even though they are eyeing it cautiously. More excitement is in the water where the otters are playing around and couldn’t care less about the eagle above them.
We are of course not the only boat in the area but we are more private as the other boats have more people on board. However what matters to us is the birds that we are seeing and with luck the captain points us also a couple horned puffins which are more rare and he says he hasn’t seen yet this year, quite exciting! And with this we have seen all three puffin species that exist around the world, a special achievement for us!
Usually this would be the end of the wildlife cruise but today we have a special mission, the boat has to pick up a couple hikers from across the bay. Here it is a bit unusual as there are quite a few hiking trails in the national parks that can be accessed only by boats and therefore most boats double as hiker shuttles.
This allows us to explore a side of the bay we otherwise wouldn’t have visited. It is quite scenic with a few otters playing in the water but no other visible wildlife. At the landing point there are remains of a fishery(?) but what we care about is that the people that we have to pick up are ready to go so we don’t spend too much time waiting for them. The return trip is uneventful with no additional stop at Gull Island and soon we are back in port.
Back in port we are looking for some lunch/dinner type of restaurant preferably one where we can order to go so we can enjoy our beautiful Airbnb. Unfortunately most restaurants are either closed or quite busy so we decide to go targeted to a small kiosk that our phone promises is take out only.
It is actually quite close to our car so while one of us waits for the order the other one takes all the camera equipment to the car. It allows us to have a better appreciation of how many people are stopping here. We are not sure why though, besides wildlife cruises (and there was no one with us) and a few fishing tours there is really nothing that exciting going on, it is still a mystery to us what everyone else was doing here. The food itself is a combo of cod and halibut and they are quite good and we enjoy our late lunch or early dinner.
We spend the evening birdwatching from the patio and the house and reading and planning the next days. The birds here are nothing exciting but it is good to be able to follow their behaviours for some time. The Northwestern Crows especially are quite active and fun to watch as they flitter around.
The time passes without us even noticing it given that it never gets dark and suddenly it is midnight and we are still watching bald eagles patrolling the area, followed by crows that do their best to interfere and scare the eagles. Now we notice that we are also quite tired and soon fall asleep after pulling the blinds tightly so it gets dark at least in the bedroom.
