Sunday September 23 – Into New Brunswick
Ray passed the
blog responsibilities to Phil onboard the ferry across the Bay of Fundy, as we
crossed the border (wherever it is!) into New Brunswick. At about that moment the
ship ran into a fog bank, and we took a short break from our lonely vigil on
the foredeck. The sun then shone for a brief period, during which time we saw a lone
Manx Shearwater as a break from all the Great Shearwaters. Soon afterwards the
ship re-entered the fog and remained there till we landed in Saint John. As we
faced a long journey to the Saint Lawrence River the next day, we elected to
drive as far as Fredericton, New Brunswick’s Provincial Capital, for the night.
Monday September 24 – To the Saint Lawrence
River
A crisp fall
morning greeted us, with sunny skies and a brisk 6 degrees. Despite the first
real sunshine we’d seen since arriving down east, a short walk in the
Fredericton Botanical Gardens yielded only a few birds – perhaps they too were
waiting for things to warm up – so we soon headed out. The Trans-Canada
Highway winds its way through beautiful countryside, hugging the border with
Maine. New Brunswick is 90% forested, and we noted the beginnings of the fall
colours for which this part of the world is famous. We made our way steadily north, stopping for
short forays from time to time. The camping area at Woolastock was quite
productive, and north of Edmunston we stopped outside the New Brunswick
Botanical Gardens. It was quiet, but a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker put in an
appearance.
Eventually we
reached Riviere-du-Loup, on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence. With a few
hours to spare before catching the ferry across the river, we explored the
vicinity of the town. On the waterfront we saw a flock of about 20 Snow Geese.
But the highlight of our brief time in this quaint town was a stroll in the
Parc de la Chute, one of the most beautiful city parks we’ve been in. Not too
birdy in the early afternoon and windy conditions, but a very pleasant walk. Brian got his first good picture of a Golden-crowned Kinglet, a ubiquitous but retiring species.
Riviere-du-Loup on the Saint Lawrence |
Golden-crowned Kinglet |
Beluga Whales |
Tuesday September 25 – Whale Watching on the
Saint Lawrence
Our hopes were
high as we boarded the 225-seat catamaran Katmar
operated by Croisieres 2001 for a 3-hour morning cruise. There are three cruise
operators at work at this tail end of the whale watching season. We chose the
catamaran over a zodiac as it is good to be able to move around and also much
better for taking photographs. Watching two zodiacs plying their way through
the choppy waters, we definitely had made a more comfortable choice.
Tadoussac, Quebec |
After leaving the
dock at Tadoussac the Katmar went
across the Saguenay to pick up additional passengers at Baie-de-Sainte-Catherine
before heading out into the Saint Lawrence. There were about 50 passengers on
board. We soon ran into a pod of about 4 Beluga Whales, and then a Minke Whale.
All around us hundreds of Bonaparte’s Gulls and Black-legged Kittiwakes were
diving for fish. An even more impressive sight was a flock of many thousands of
White-winged Scoters. Further out into the river we hove to, beside a pod of
about six Minke Whales, to allow everyone to take pictures.
Minke Whale |
Going inside to
get a coffee, Ray talked to the woman who was making the announcements over the
loudspeaker. “Not good news”, he reported. “She says that they never bother to
chase Fin Whales because they dive for 25 minutes, and they haven’t seen a Blue
Whale for a week.” And indeed we did not see any of our hoped-for whale
species. In fact this last of six whale watching cruises for the year was the
only one not to add any new species of birds or mammals for us.
A highlight of
the journey back to Tadoussac, with a short diversion up the impressive
Saguenay Fjord, was watching a juvenile Parasitic Jaeger harassing a
Bonaparte’s Gull. In the afternoon we took the ferry back across the Saint
Lawrence to Riviere-du-Loup, then drove to Grand Falls, NB for our overnight
stop.
We set off early on
the 600 km drive to Halifax. Ray skillfully skirted three skunks crossing
the road in the pre-dawn hours and our first stop was at Kouchibouguac National
Park where we hoped to see some shorebirds. There weren’t too many, but a
Whimbrel posed nicely on a log for us.
Whimbrel |
Three Spruce Grouse were encountered
next to the road – a catch-up bird for Ray, who was delighted he won’t have to
spend days looking for one in Alberta. They soon headed for the cover
of the forest.
On the road in New Brunswick |
We had a quick
lunch in Sackville, NB and took a stroll in the Waterfowl Park where we saw
several species of ducks and some shorebirds before heading for Brule, Nova
Scotia. Our target was a Northern Wheatear which has been around for a few days
in the yard of John and Trish Rubin, beautifully located right on the north shore. They kindly invited us to come and have a
look and Trish was waiting for us when we arrived around 3 PM. She was pleased
to tell us that the bird had stayed around and we were very happy to see it
within a minute or two of our arrival, perched on a pile of dried kelp. After the disappointment of the whale watching
in Quebec, it was good to notch up species #493, a new bird for Canada for all
of us. Thanks, John and Trish!
Northern Wheatear |
We had a pleasant
dinner in Truro with Ray’s son Rob and wife Caroline, and Ray drove the last
lap of a long day to end our trip back in Halifax. Back home to Calgary in the morning.
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