Rearview Mirror II: Looking Back on a Busy Summer

Posted on December 22, 2015 by birdtherock

Here is a second installment of photo highlights from Summer 2015! It was a busy few months leading adventures for Eagle Eye Tours, Wildland Tours, and lots of Bird-The-Rock clients!

Black-backed Woodpeckers are regular but somewhat uncommon in Newfoundland … we were fortunate to bump into several during our hikes through older growth forest.

The sheer number of seabirds, including Common Murre, can overwhelm visitors to Witless Bay Ecological Reserve. Here a small flurry zip past our boat.

A Humpback Whale cruises past some beautiful sea stacks in Trinity Bay.

Check out the white upperside on those big fins ... one of the feautres that separates Atlantic Humpback Whales from their cousins in the Pacific.

Check out the white upperside on those big fins … one of the features that separates Atlantic Humpback Whales from their cousins in the Pacific.

A Razorbill stands stoic on Gull Island (part of the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve). This is one of the best places to see this very classy-looking bird.

Visiting the historic town of Trinity is a highlight for many tours, and it lso makes a great backdrop for a boat tour!

Visiting the historic town of Trinity is a highlight for many tours, and it also makes a great backdrop for a boat tour!

Blue Flag Irises flank a cannon that still stands guard at the entrance to Trinity’s storied harbour.

The Newfoundland race of Red Crossbill (percna) is considered enedmic to the island, and is currently considered a "species at risk" in the province.

The Newfoundland race of Red Crossbill (percna) is considered endemic to the island, and is currently considered a “species at risk” in the province.

Pine Siskins are among my favourite birds — understated but beautiful and fun to watch.

Some very classy butterflies also made the highlight list, including the small but brilliant Northern Blue.

Atlantic Puffins, our provincial bird, can be found at several colonies along the coast.

An Otter stakes claim to his little piece of shoreline.

Arctic Terns sit on the beach at Holyrood Pond, showing off their catch.

A female Mourning Warbler was spotted carrying food. This is a very scarce breeder on the Avalon Peninsula, but becomes more common further west on the island.

This rare yellow form of Pitcher Plant (our provincial flower) was found near Fort Point, Trinity Bay.

Sometimes we got up close and personal with a curious whale!

A tranquil moment along the Salmonier River.

Caribou were a bit elusive this summer, but we did run into a few on the barrens of the southern Avalon.

While Tufted Ducks are common during winter, summer sightings are few and far between. We were fortunate to see this immature male hanging out at a city pond.

This Common (Eurasian Green-winged) Teal (left) was another summer surprise. It was hanging out with a regular Green-winged Teal in a small pond in St. Mary’s Bay.

The archaeological dig at the Colony of Avalon (Ferryland) showcases one of North America’s earliest European settlements.

Magnolia Warblers make for colourful additions to any day of birding on the island.

A male Yellow-rumped Warbler checks out his territory.

It was an awesome summer with some many highlights … many of which could never be captured with a camera!

Catching Up (with a White-winged Tern!!)

Posted on September 2, 2015 by birdtherock

It has been an extremely busy summer … which I guess is a good thing when you’re in the ecotourism business 😉 Between Bird⋅The⋅Rock clients and commercial tours with my friends at Wildland and Eagle Eye Tours, I’ve had many opportunities to share the wonderful birds & nature of Newfoundland with visitors from all over the world, as well as lead a fun birding tour in beautiful New Brunswick! With that in mind, I now have a lot of catching up to do – so expect a full summer’s worth of great stories and photo highlights here on the blog over the next few weeks!!

However, the first “catching up” I had to do this week was with a very rare tern that showed up in Newfoundland while I was away. While leading a birding tour in New Brunswick, I received a series of texts about a WHITE-WINGED TERN that had been discovered in Conception Bay South – just 20 minutes from my home! As painful as it was, I soon learned that it seemed to be settled and had some routine habits – a good sign that it might hang around for a few days. Five days later, after concluding the tour, I was headed home and focused on seeing this beautiful bird for myself … until foggy weather in St. John’s forced the cancellation of my flight! Following an unplanned night in Montreal and a reroute through Toronto (my sixth province that month), I finally arrived home on the evening of Tuesday, August 25.

This breeding plumaged White-winged Tern was a very unexpected find when discovered by local birder Paul Linegar on August 19. It is normally found in southeastern Europe and Asia (wintering in Africa and Australia), and is a very rare wanderer to North America.

The next morning, I headed straight to Chamberlain’s Pond where the tern was known to feed regularly throughout the day. I scanned the pond and, seeing nothing, stepped out of the car – when THE tern immediately flew in off the ocean and directly in front of me!! It continued to course around the far side of the pond, flying acrobatics and hawking insects off the water’s surface, for about 10 minutes before flying over my head again and out over the ocean, headed towards the nearby marina where it had been originally discovered. I relocated it there a short while later, but it was too far to enjoy or photograph. After some poking around, I found a public access to the long breakwater/sandbar opposite the marina and made the 15 minute stroll along its length to where I had last seen it. It was nowhere to be found, so I waited patiently – until it suddenly appeared out of nowhere and flew by just metres away! Fortunately I was able to raise my camera and snap off a few photos as it glided past – not perfect, but still precious! What a stunning and graceful bird!

This beautiful bird represents the first record of White-winged Tern for the province – one that local birders may have dreamed about but never “really” expected to see here.

The black underwing coverts seen in this photo are an important feature, distinguishing this mega rarity from the very similar Black Tern (which while still somewhat rare in Newfoundland is by far the more expected species).

Notably, two other exciting birds have been reported recently. A moulting adult YELLOW-LEGGED GULL has been spotted in east St. John’s several times over the past two weeks – a virtually annual visitor here but still a huge rarity for North America in general. Far less expected, a highly probably BLACK-BROWED ALBATROSS was reported by a fisherman near Cape St. Mary’s on August 29 – a huge rarity that we are hoping will be spotted again!

Stay tuned to the blog for a series of reports on our adventures this past summer!

Lots of amazing birding, whales, scenery and fun this summer … check back soon for some photo highlights!

Another teaser from my most recent adventure – an Eagle Eye Tours trip to New Brunswick and the beautiful Bay of Fundy!

Making the Best of a Wet August

Posted on September 9, 2014 by birdtherock

There’s an old adage in St. John’s that summer ends after Regatta Day (the famous rowing races held here on the first Wednesday of August). While that hasn’t really been my experience, this year it held true. Very true. While July was one of the hottest (and driest) months on record for the city, August turned out to be among the wettest and coolest! The rain started on Regatta Day (Aug 6) and hardly let up for the next few weeks. Temperatures rarely climbed out of the teens and sometimes dipped down to single digits, and there were only 5 days without rain the entire month!

But what odds? A little rain, drizzle & fog hasn’t stopped me from enjoying life before, and neither would it now. I started the month by spending some quality time with my father and two little girls (while all the women in our family were traveling in Ireland!), including a few days in Grates Cove, a visit to beautiful Cape Spear and lots of other fun. In fact, those first few days of August were the hottest days of summer, with temps in the mid-thirties!

On August 5, I headed off to start my last tour of the season — a Wildland’s “Newfoundland Adventure” Tour that had just one guest, a Canadian currently living abroad in Holland and making her first foray to Newfoundland. It was a great week as we enjoyed amazing scenery, tons of whales, historical walks, and even a close-up moose … all while dodging the fog and rain that had begun its big invasion!

Beautiful flowers, such as these White-fringed (left) and Ragged-fringed (right) Orchids were blooming in roadside bogs during our drives.

We encountered a Snowy Owl sitting on the barrens near St. Shott’s – an unusual sighting here in mid-summer but one of several known to have lingered after last fall’s big invasion.

We encountered our first fog at Cape St. Mary’s, although it moved off during the morning to reveal a beautiful day.

Subalpine flowers, like these Diapensia lapponica, grow on the sub-arctic tundra of Cape St. Mary’s.

Small Purple-fringed Orchids were also in bloom at Cape St. Mary’s – often hiding amongst patches of longer grass.

A young bull moose graced us by allowing us to get quite close, although he seemed reluctant to share his lunch 😉

The other moose we enjoyed during the tour was on our plates — this burger served with delicious partridgeberry ketchup at the Bonavista Social Club.

Icebergs in August are pretty unusual, but this has been an exceptional year. This one in Bonavista Bay was the last one I’ll see this year.

Whales were plentiful in Trinity Bay, and we enjoyed close encounters with twenty or more Humpbacks during our two zodiac trips with Sea of Whale Adventures.

Although most were busy gorging on the schools of caplin, a few enetertained us with some beautiful breaches. This one in front of the historic town of Trinity!

Although most were busy gorging on the schools of capelin, a few entertained us with some beautiful breaches. This one in front of the historic town of Trinity!

The last day of the tour was spent exploring the beautiful and historic sites of St. John’s, North Americas oldest city.

The rest of the month was family-time – much of it spent hanging out together in Grates Cove. We are fortunate that my wife’s family has an old home there, at the northern tip of the Avalon Peninsula, where we can get back to basics and connect a little with nature, history and each other.

The ruggedness of the sea, coast and barrens at Grates Cove are always a treat. We’re fortunate to be able to spend so much time there.

It was nice to see the first Partridgeberries turning red on the barrens, although it was the blueberries that got most of our attention in August.

It was interesting come upon some Burying Beetles (Nicrophorus sp) at work alongside one of my favourite walking trails.

It was interesting to come upon some Burying Beetles (Nicrophorus sp) at work alongside one of my favourite walking trails.

The last of our orchids to flower, Hooded Ladies Tresses, were popping into bloom in mid-August.

More abundant, but less splendid, was Gall of the Earth – an odd flower that looks sickly even when its in full bloom!

We also visited the Mini Aquarium at Petty Harbour. Although the girls have been there twice with their aunt (my sister), it was my first time … and it was fun. I’ll include some more photos and details in another post … Finally, August ended with more rain as Tropical Storm Cristobal passed south of Newfoundland. More importantly, the wrap-around winds produced by this storm came from the northeast, blowing thousands of Leach’s Storm Petrels into the bottom of Conception Bay. I arrived at Holyrood late in the day, finding the bay alive with fluttering petrels, and a steady stream of them buzzing by at close range as the blasting winds forced them right in over the beach and road. (I’ll do a separate post on this event soon!)

Thousands of Lach's Storm Petrels fluttered over Conception Bay, driven there by the strong wrap-around winds from Tropical Storm Cristobal (August 29).

Thousands of Leach’s Storm Petrels fluttered over Conception Bay, driven there by the strong wrap-around winds from Tropical Storm Cristobal (August 29).

“Newfoundland Adventure”, June 29 – July 5

Posted on July 16, 2014 by birdtherock

Newfoundland is an amazing place at any time of year, but early summer just might take the cake. It certainly did this year! Starting at the end of June, I was fortunate to join another great group of visitors from all over the world for their “Newfoundland Adventure” with Wildland Tours. Here are just a few photo highlights of the many, many things we enjoyed!

Here is our Wildland Tours group at Tickle Cove, Bonavista Bay. What a great bunch!!

Our tour began & ended in North America’ oldest city. There’s never a lack of things to do in St. John’s.

The whales had arrived en masse in the days before our tour, and they entertained us from day one when we visited Witless Bay Ecological Reserve with O’Brien’s Tours.

Berry season was still weeks away, but the blossoms were a good sign. These blueberry flowers were at Blackhead.

This nealy iconic photo of St. John’s narrows, an iceberg and a humpback whale was taken from Cape Spear, North America’s easternmost point.

A pair of Willow Ptarmigan graced us by crossing the road near Newfoundland’s southernmost lighthouse, Cape Pine.

Cape Pine also produced our first Short-tailed Swallowtails of the trip … they were plentiful at most headlands during the week.

Whales were part of the action every day – like this one at St. Vincent’s which was breaching and waving.

No visit to Newfoundland is complete without a visit to Cape St. Mary’s. Despite some heavy fog (which, to be honest, is part of the experience there!) we enjoyed amazing views of the Northern Gannet colony.

Our group also enjoyed a zodiac tour of Bonavista Bay with Sea of Whale Adventures …

… and, of course, icebergs were one of the main attractions.

The tour ended in the scenic community of King’s Cove.

A short hike around King’s Cove (while the rest of the group enjoyed the zodiac ride!) included a very confiding Spotted Sandpiper.

As well as some confiding dragonflies like this Forcipate Emerald (a new one for me) …

and this Four-spotted Skimmer.

We took advantage of the sunny afternoon to hike the Skerwink Trail.

Incredible scenery …

whales …

and another stunning iceberg.

We also encountered our first caplin of the trip -- masses of them spawning and rolling on a beach as we watched from a cliff high above.

We also encountered our first capelin of the trip — masses of them spawning and rolling on a beach as we watched from a cliff high above.

We also enjoyed a visit to Elliston, where the Atlantic Puffins can be enjoyed comfortably from land.

This Mustard White was at Elliston was a bit of a surprise for me … I see them so rarely in eastern Newfoundland, though they may be more common than I realize in other areas.

These Beach-head Irises were blooming in many locations. Here, the town of Elliston lingers in the background.

Northern Blue butterflies were abundant at the tip of the Bonavista Peninsula ... I spent a fair bit of time chasing them around the barrens trying to catch a decent photo!

Northern Blue butterflies were abundant at the tip of the Bonavista Peninsula … I spent a fair bit of time chasing them around the barrens trying in vain to catch a decent photo!

Food is a big part of any tour, and this one didn’t disappoint. This delicious mooseburger (complete with partridgeberry ketchup and homemade chips) was a popular choice at the Bonavista Social Club.

Another brilliant iceberg was grounded just off the scenic little outport of Red Cliff, Bonavista Bay.

The sea arch at nearby Tickle Cove is always a beautiful sight, but especially when you can spot a massive iceberg through it!

The sea arch at nearby Tickle Cove is always a beautiful sight, but especially so when you can spot a massive iceberg through it!

A shot of Tickle Cove with an iris in the foreground.

Beach Pea is another lovely but often overlooked flower that blossoms on our beaches.

We ended the week with a wonderful day back in St. John’s.

Our final day of the tour began with a boat tour out of St. John's harbour ... passing the iconic Battery along the way.

Our final day of the tour began with a boat tour … passing the iconic Battery along the way.

Not surprisingly, the highlight was getting up close and personal with more icebergs. Here we could see St. John’s in the distance between two bergs.

A view of St. John’s harbour as we entered the narrows.

We also hiked from Signal Hill to the qualit Quidi Vidi village, stopping to enjoy some Bald Eagle chicks along the way.

We also hiked from Signal Hill to the quaint Quidi Vidi village, stopping to enjoy some Bald Eagle chicks along the way.

Our last stop was Middle Cove Beach, just north of the city …

…where we found a small run of capelin “rolling” on the beach.

Capelin require coarse sandy beaches in order to spawn … huge schools “roll” in with the tide, with the females depositing as many as 50,000 eggs each!

It was another awesome week, filled with lots of fun, beautiful weather, and all the trimmings of a real Newfoundland adventure! Icebergs, whales, seabirds, moose, excellent food … and a great group of people to share it with. Thanks to everyone for joining me on this Wildland Tours excursion. I’m looking forward to leading another one in August!

Bergs, birds, whales & history …

Posted on June 30, 2014 by birdtherock

June has been a hectic month … hence the lack of blog updates. I have been busy leading a number of tours – private bookings and for folks like Wildland Tours and Eagle Eye Tours/Adventure Canada. The excursions have ranged from one to seven days and involved birds, bergs, whales, and even a little history! It’s nice to be making use of more than just my birding knowledge for a change!

I begin yet another week-long tour in just a few hours, so no time for a detailed post — but here are some photo highlights from the past few weeks. It has been fun!!

Icebergs have been everywhere this spring – including one we enjoyed right alongside the huge seabird colonies of Witless Bay Ecological Reserve (Wildland Tours/Adventure Canada/O’Briens Boat Tours)

The massive colonies of Common Murre in Witless Bay Ecological Reserve are always awe-inspiring!

Atlantic Puffin, Witless Bay Ecological Reserve

Common Murre, Witless Bay Ecological Reserve

Razorbills, Witless Bay Ecological Reserve

Cape Pine is the southernmost point of land in Newfoundland …

… and an excellent place to see Short-tailed Swallowtail, which has a very restricted range and is more or less an island specialty.

Nearby St. Shott’s is the island’s southernmost community, and beautifully rugged.

Following on this theme, North America’s southernmost herd of Woodland Caribou can often be seen in this area, too. These ones were near Sam’s River.

Arctic Tern have been nesting on the bach at St. Vincent’s for a number of years now, allowing for unusually close encounters with these often shy birds.

Castle Hill provides not only a great look at an important part of Newfoundland’s history, but also a fantastic view over Placentia, which was once the “French capital” of our island.

We enjoyed a visit by a pair of inquisitive Gray Jays while visiting Castle Hill.

I enjoyed some stunning evening light and scenery at the beautiful boat harbour in St. Bride’s …

… some of it a sad reminder of the struggle that these communities have had to face since the closure of the cod fishery.

The sunset at St. Bride’s was amazing.

Cape St. Mary’s and its Northern Gannets are always a crowd pleaser – and all my groups had fantastic days there, with or without the fog!

The icebergs in Bonavista & Trinity Bays were incredible – in number, size and sheer beauty. Some dramatic skies added to the scene at times.

Sometimes, a whale or two even got in the way of the iceberg viewing 😉

A visit to historic Trinity was also a highlight.

Our tour of “Cape Random” (near New Bonaventure) was fun, and included yet another iceberg right in the cove.

We also enjoyed a short visit with the Atlantic Puffins at Elliston, where the colony can be viewed comfortably from land.

A boat tour out of St. John's harbour give a new perspective on Cape Spear, North America's easternmost point - this time with a rainstorm brewing in the background.

A boat tour out of St. John’s harbour gives a new perspective on Cape Spear, North America’s easternmost point – this time with a rainstorm brewing in the background.

And, of course, more icebergs. There were some mammoths outside the narrows this month!

Humpback Whales have been showing up in the past two weeks, following the capelin inshore. I expect to see a lot more of them this week!

Bird⋅The⋅Rock

Newfoundland Bird & Nature Tours

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