Seeing North America

We explore Cape St. George. Heading in a clockwise direction we head out to the western most point where we find a park and signs pointing to two Kittiwake colonies. The sign points to a small colony nearby and another points a hiking trail to a large colony. Naturally, Wells pulls out his big lens and tripod with a total weight of more than 25 pounds.

We head up the trail to the large Kittiwake colony on a trail along the top of the cliffs. The ocean is 200 feet below. The growth is mostly short trees about 7 feet high. Walking along the trail has us feel as if we are walking in the canopy near the tree tops yet still not able to see beyond the nearest trees. Occasionally the trail breaks out into a clearing near the cliff tops overlooking the ocean. It’s a great view but Wells only has his long lens. To capture this scene a much shorter (and lighter) lens is needed, but it is back at the truck. We hike on. The trail climbs and soon we are 400 feet above the water. An occasional Northern Gannet flies by but no Kittiwakes.  After climbing more the trail starts down but we can see that it is heading away from the shore so we turn around without finding the colony. Hiking back to the truck we look for the small colony with equal luck. We are Kittiwake-less.

We continue our clockwise journey stopping for lunch at “Tea by the Sea.” The seafood chowder was about average. If it was served hot it would rank higher. Stopping at a small store Marsha is in awe of the collection of things available here. It’s a grocery store but also a drug store, variety store and hardware store. At the front counter we spy a sign stating that behind the counter they have grease nipples, brake linings, and other uncommon items.

We explore Cape St. George. Heading in a clockwise direction we head out to the western most point where we find a park and signs pointing to two Kittiwake colonies. The sign points to a small colony nearby and another points a hiking trail to a large colony. Naturally, Wells pulls out his big lens and tripod with a total weight of more than 25 pounds.

We head up the trail to the large Kittiwake colony on a trail along the top of the cliffs. The ocean is 200 feet below. The growth is mostly short trees about 7 feet high. Walking along the trail has us feel as if we are walking in the canopy near the tree tops yet still not able to see beyond the nearest trees. Occasionally the trail breaks out into a clearing near the cliff tops overlooking the ocean. It’s a great view but Wells only has his long lens. To capture this scene a much shorter (and lighter) lens is needed, but it is back at the truck. We hike on. The trail climbs and soon we are 400 feet above the water. An occasional Northern Gannet flies by but no Kittiwakes.  After climbing more the trail starts down but we can see that it is heading away from the shore so we turn around without finding the colony. Hiking back to the truck we look for the small colony with equal luck. We are Kittiwake-less.

We continue our clockwise journey stopping for lunch at “Tea by the Sea.” The seafood chowder was about average. If it was served hot it would rank higher. Stopping at a small store Marsha is in awe of the collection of things available here. It’s a grocery store but also a drug store, variety store and hardware store. At the front counter we spy a sign stating that behind the counter they have grease nipples, brake linings, and other uncommon items.

We continue our travels today heading to the western side of the island. We stop for a break and call for ferry reservations. It’s a 7 hour trip from Newfoundland to Cap Breton with ferries leaving Newfoundland roughly at noon and midnight. Wells makes the call and the next ferry available that can accommodate our rig is Friday night at midnight. Of course, we hoped we could get on the midday trip but we take what we can take. If the shorebirds are still along the Bay of Fundy when we can get there then all is well. If not then we will skip looking for them and go direction to Prince Edward Island.

We are now close to 100 miles north of the ferry on a large cape that sticks out west from the Island, Cape St. Geroge. We find a regional park where they placed us away from all the other campers on the beach at a beautiful spot. It’s an unserviced site without power and water, but that is okay with us! This spot reminds us of camping at Sea Rim State Park along the Gulf of Mexico in Texas. We are next to the water without anybody else around.

We’ve heard the sandpipers and plovers are on the tidal flats in New Brunswick along the upper reaches of the Bay of Fundy. Time for some background. June five years ago Wells traveled to New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia to photograph. Traveling the back roads near the Bay of Fundy he spotted a sign mentioning an art gallery way off the beaten path. He heads there to find it was the art gallery of painter Lars Larsen. He passed away more than a decade earlier but his widow continues to run the gallery. It’s filled with mostly prints of Lars. Wells spots a photograph similar to a photograph he had taken in upstate NY. Wells’ photograph is of a huge flock of snow geese. The flock has many thousand of snow geese but it is a slow exposure taken at 1/8 second so the flying snow geese appear as wispy blowing white grass. The photograph at the gallery is a flock of many tens of thousands of sandpipers and plovers flying and the photographer captured the image with a slow shutter speed. Her image speaks to him. The resulting image is similar to Wells’.  Afterwards Wells regretted not purchasing the print. Two years ago we stopped at the same gallery on our return from our Newfoundland trip where Wells purchased another image by the same photographer, Sybil Wetzle. It is the first photograph he remembers purchasing.

These shorebirds stop over for about two weeks each August to rest and feed. They are migrating from the Arctic to the Southern Hemisphere. It is a special sight to behold as these birds make their migration of tens of thousands of miles.

Anyway, back to the present. Sybil, now a Facebook friend, lets us know the birds are now at the tidal flats along the Bay of Fundy. We make the decision to travel to the western part of Newfoundland do a bit of exploring and catch the ferry to Nova Scotia where we still hope to see the shorebirds.

We are about 500 miles from the ferry so today is a travel day. We do a few repairs in the trailer and head out. After a while and maybe 300 miles we pull into a campground and are assigned a campsite. We pull into the campsite and right next to us are Harry and Pam, the couple we met at the restaurant in Grand Bank yesterday.

It’s a sunny day so we decide to explore the southern part of Burin Peninsular. We head south and stop in Grand Bank. Here The Rooms Museum based in St. John’s has a museum dedicated to the seamen of Newfoundland. We arrive mid-morning and find the museum does not open until 12:30 on Sundays. Oh well, we continue to the next town, Fortune where one can take a ferry to France. Not to mainland France rather two islands off the coast of Newfoundland, St.-Pierre and Great Miquelon. We do not have our passports so we are unable to travel there. We are in Canada using our Enhanced NY Driver’s Licenses. If we are unable to travel to France we will gaze at it out in the distance. We travel a bit further to Point May but the fog has rolled in and there is no way we are going to see France.

Along the coast we see Northern Gannets feeding just offshore. Wells breaks out his camera with a 600 mm lens and attempts to photograph them diving. Some background information here.  On Wells’ Bucket List is to photograph a Northern Gannet in full dive with the bird’s bill just touching the water. Northern Gannets hunt from about 300 feet above the water. When they spot prey they start their vertical dive. At the start the bird extends it’s wings and as it approaches the water it tucks the wings more and more until just above the water they are a vertical arrow heading straight down. They enter the water bill first. The action is a sight to be seen. Photographing this action is difficult. It’s hard tracking these flying birds keeping them in focus. If they are close it’s even tougher. Wells captures three different dives but they are somewhat distant. It’s not a full bucket list capture it is more like a small pail list. No matter what Wells is thrilled.

The fog thickens as we continue counter-clockwise around the peninsular reaching the town of St. Lawrence. In 1942 the people of St. Lawrence saved over 100 lives of US Navy Sailors from two wrecked destroyers near the town. More than 200 lives were lost yet the town members saved many lives. After exploring the town we retrace our steps back to Grand Bank. The fog thickens even more and the views we enjoyed an hour earlier are no longer there. It’s thick fog soup.

We stop for lunch at a small restaurant in Grand Bank. It’s 2 in the afternoon and the place is empty. Should we stay? Why not! Shortly another couple from the west coast of Newfoundland near Stephenville come in, Pam and Harry. We have a nice conversation. As for the meal Wells finally finds Cod Tongues. Cod Tongues are often found on the menu but we always find that they are out of them. This place has Cod Tongues so Wells orders it and gets to enjoy them. Cod Tongues are hard to cook properly. If overcooked they are chewy almost like calamari. The ones cooked properly have more of a consistently of oysters. Wells loves them!

After lunch in Grand Bank we head to the museum which we absolutely enjoy. Afterwards we head back to the campground where we relax then grill some fresh fish. Fish? Good question. Yesterday, we found a man selling seafood out of the back of his truck. He told us he had “fillets.” What is that? We ask. He replied “Fish.” When pressed he explained it was Cod. While exploring the museum it explained that “Cod” is simply referred to as “Fish” so it is now clear.

Saturday August 10

The rain finally ended overnight and we pack up and prepare to travel to the Burin Peninsular, the next peninsular sticking southward. This has less in terms of tourist services but that’s okay with us. We pull into the Visitor Center in Marystown and find out about a Dinner Theater that is tonight in a nearby town. We call and there are a few seats left so we book the theater. We then drive to Frenchmen Cove Provincial Park where we set up the trailer for a couple of nights here. We head out to the town of Burin and the dinner theater. Unlike the dinner theater in Trinity this one is a local production. We enjoy both the dinner and performance. It’s dark when we head back home through moose territory.  We are warned about the moose by a local couple, Ann and Bob, who we sat with at the performance. Between the fog, darkness, and moose we slowly head home to our trailer arriving unscathed.

The forecast for today is wind, rain, and fog. It’s not looking good for birding but we head there anyway. If the weather is not suitable for Cape St. Mary’s we can explore other places. As we drive south the weather is clearer and we get our hopes up about seeing the birds once more. The last few miles to Cape St. Mary’s has a thick fog engulfing us. We arrive at the Visitor Center and find the trail is open. We pack up the camera gear and head out. With the poor weather we encounter only a few others on the trail and viewpoint. We enjoy the trill of seeing these majestic birds up close. It’s foggy but Bird Island is so close we get great views.

After a couple of hours we start the trek back towards the Visitor Center when it starts to rain. It’s a wind driven foggy rain. We are soaked arriving back at the truck. We shed our rain gear and head north to a small restaurant where we enjoy seafood chowder. As we drive back to the campground the wind and rain continues. Tonight’s plan was to cook outside on the grill but no way! We hunker down in the Airstream thinking how thankful we are to be in the trailer and not in a tent! We batten down the camper and play cards then read. Into the night the weather continues.

We are up and pack up camp and hitch our camper to the truck. The Avalon Peninsular has two major fingers extending to the south into the Atlantic Ocean. The past couple of days we’ve explored the eastern most finger and now it’s time to explore the western finger. Overall where we’ve been has more people and is more tourist oriented. The area we are heading includes Argentina where the long ferry lands from Nova Scotia. The long ferry is roughly an 18 hour journey and lands several hundred miles closer to St. John’s then the shorter ferry route from Nova Scotia. That ferry crossing is roughly 6 ½ hours. The drawback is the long drive to St. John’s. Therefore, people heading to St. John’s often elect taking the long ferry. This finger has plenty of ferry traffic. Not many tourists other than those interested in seabirds venture the forty miles south to the southern tip, Cape St. Mary’s.

Cape St. Mary’s is a major seabird nesting location. This cape juts southward into the ocean and on average has fog 200 days each year. Thick pea soup fog lingers sometimes for days at a time. Along the coast is a sea stack that is the nesting place for tens of thousands of birds including Kittiwakes, Common Murres, and Northern Gannets. Other seabirds also nest here but have already left for the season. The sea stack, Bird Island, is more than 300 feet high at an equal height to the shore where one can see from. From the viewing point Bird Island is only 60 feet away. Cape St. Mary’s Ecological Bird Reserve exists to protect this valuable nesting habitat along with surrounding tundra like lands. A visit to Cape St. Mary’s is on our must see list.

Today’s plan is drive to Argentina and find a camping site. As best as we can determine there are no campgrounds south of there and closer to Cape St. Mary’s. We make the one hundred mile drive and find a campground or maybe “the campground” in this area and set up. It’s early afternoon when we leave the trailer and head south on a scouting trip to Cape St. Mary’s. The forecast for the Cape is for rain and fog so we figure we can at least scout it out. The drive along the western coast of this peninsular is breathtaking with cliffs plunging to the ocean below. The further south the shorter the trees until it is tundra like in appearance. The sun is still out as we arrive at the Ecological Visitor Center. We gather our gear and begin the one plus mile hike to Bird Island. Before we are at all close the air is filled with the cries of tens of thousands of seabirds. The trail ends at a rocky outcropping only 60 feet from Bird Island. The air is thick with birds and their pungent aroma. It’s not a disgusting smell yet it adds to the overall atmosphere and we know we are at a special place in this world. The primary bird here is the Northern Gannet. The island is covered with Northern Gannets. Wells photographs away. The weather is better than expected and we are thrilled to experience this natural wonder.

After two hours there the fog begins to roll in. We pack up and head back to the Ecological Reserve Visitor Center. Afterwards we head north the 45 miles to our campground. Supper is cooked outside on the grill and after a game of Cribbage we hit the hay.