Puffin and Murre Photos Prolific from this Weekend on N. Oregon Coast: Cannon Beach

Published 07/06/25 at 3:55 p.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Cannon Beach, Oregon) – It's been a lovely, even ideal holiday weekend for bird watchers in the Cannon Beach area. For those who love tufted puffins and the common murre, it's been more like Christmas in July.

Friends of Haystack Rock (FHR) snagged loads of prime photos of the wee beasties of both species, as they stood on the beach helping others spot them as well. Tiffany Boothe of Seaside Aquarium and FHR sent these photos along, showing some adorable hatchlings on the famed basalt structure. Though the common murres dominate the shots, little splashes of color pop out here and there, made by the adult puffins.

Babies blend in with the black and white murres as they have the same color configuration until a little closer to maturation.

From April through August, tufted puffins - affectionately dubbed “flapping footballs” by enthusiasts on the south coast - return to nest at Haystack Rock, home to the largest publicly viewable colony of puffins in Oregon.

Common murres are, of course, quite common. FHR showed a lot of these in each shot.

All photos here from FHR.

This spot offers the closest puffin encounter on the coast, and the best vantage point for observing them. Currently, nesting burrows can be seen tucked into the grassy meadow along Haystack Rock’s northern and western faces.

Throughout much of the summer, representatives from FHR and the Haystack Rock Awareness Program (HRAP) are stationed on the beach, assisting the public with puffin-spotting and answering questions about the rock’s unique marine ecosystem. HRAP is typically present daily from about 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., though hours may vary.

Unfortunately, tufted puffin populations have declined significantly over the last two decades, particularly in the southern part of their range. Contributing factors include climate change, habitat degradation, dwindling food supplies, and increased predation.

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These striking seabirds — scientifically known as (Fratercula cirrhata) — range widely across the northern Pacific, breeding in coastal areas from California to Alaska, as well as parts of Japan and eastern Siberia. When not nesting, tufted puffins live at sea, often 150 to 200 miles offshore.

In southern Oregon, the puffins are harder to spot. Bandon’s Face Rock is one location where they’ve been seen, though sightings are less common. According to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), other potential puffin-viewing sites include Coos Bay’s Simpson Reef - one of the best vantage points in that region - and Coquille Point, also in Bandon.

Heceta Head near Florence was another hotspot for the bird but that nesting area has been left behind by them at least a couple of decades ago.

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