Newfoundland Bay-cation – Puffin Love |

The Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) is a beautiful bird. Camera in hand, I photographed them among the craggy rocks and islands.

Here in Newfoundland, along the Bonavista peninsula, the town of Elliston is home to thousands of Puffins who come to land, mate and raise their young. Like many of you, I am not a Puffin expert but I just love Puffins.

Their satirical eyes and orange beaks are captivatingly reminiscent of parrots and the long beaked Toucan.

Spending most of their lives in the open ocean, Puffin dive, often down to 50 feet or more using their wings like penguins and feed on small fish like sand eels and similar size fish. We human visitors flock to see them each year in spring and summer. They are hunted in parts of the world for food but not here in Newfoundland. Off shore along Elliston below, they like nearby islands where there are few predators to bother them.

Elliston, by-the-way, is also home of the worlds most numerous root cellars, where historically, locals store their hard earned seasonal vegetable and food larder. Below, immaculately built stone faced root cellar, the door fit snug to keep vermin out.

I hope to cod fish here soon but regulations restrict cod fishing to weekends and Monday’s to five fish per person. My wife and sister-in-law inherited land and a home on the shores of Newfoundland where we visit with cousins, and perform upkeep on the property. Being on the shore, we get out and cod fish when we can.

Local seiner’s got some capelin (a small very edible fish) and I was gifted some to grill. Years back we were grilling them near midnight, my first capelin ever and initiation was to bite the head off my grilled fish.

Smoked Caplin Tonight

I gutted cleaned and brined them for an hour in a sea salt bath. Then smoked them on my dome charcoal smoker for an hour, I made enough for two more meals to smoke with fishing friends and more beer. It’s a tough job but… someone has to do it. Might as well be me.

I did so with a grin and washed it down with cold locally brewed beer made of 20,000 yr old iceberg water. It was fabulous!

Enjoy!