0525 St Bride's to La Manche Provincial Park

30^th May 2016

Gannets, Kittywakes, and bogs.

Not sure if the sun was shining this morning or not !  It seemed to be, then it was cloudy, then it was misty, then the sun seemed to appear again – Newfoundland weather really does show up other parts of the world who think they have unpredictable weather  - This is unbelievable here !  And apparently is more a talking point than it is in England !  Anyway, it wasn’t raining, so after saying my farewells and thanks to Len, I headed up the road towards Cape St Mary’s Ecological Reserve – I just had jotted down “birds” on my map that someone had told me about.  Didn’t really know what I was going to see.

After about 15 kms on a (now routine) bad road, dodging pot holes while trying to shave and get all my electrical items sorted and on charge, I turned south towards Cape St Mary’s, and for about 13 kms found myself on a perfectly smooth, good condition, road – I was stunned.  It has to be the best road in Newfoundland !  The countryside round here is really bleak – No trees, lots of ponds and bog, and lots of mist – A bit like driving across Dartmoor in some ways !  Then at the end of the road I find a lighthouse not only flashing its light but also sounding its horn into the fog, and a big Interpretive

Centre (ie Information centre – For some reason they call them Interpretive Centres round here.)  I walk in the door and a ranger comes straight up to me and says Hi, and asks if I am looking for the “washroom”.  No, I say, do I look as though I am desperate ?  The ranger replies that most people are !!  He then tells me that the fog might come down soon, so he suggests I skip the static display and go straight out the 1.5 km path along the cliffs to the bird colony while the weather is good.  So I quickly rug up and head out along the trail.

I can see some kind of whitish cliffs in the distance, and as I head along the path the view is pretty good, and I can see that the “white cliffs” are really a mass of birds covering the entire cliff face.  I keep going, past some of the mangiest looking sheep I have ever seen, with the surprisingly blue and clear water of the Atlantic Ocean below me.  A fine walk to start the day.  Then the trail starts to turn down towards the cliffs, and I see some cliffs with lots of birds all over them, nesting and pooping everywhere – I wonder how much seniority the birds at the top  have got so they don’t have to be at the bottom and get all that poop raining down on them all the time ???!!  Is that what you call “pecking order “ ?

I look over the cliff edge and see even more birds below – Seems that the white ones are at the top, and the black ones down lower.  (Now that is odd, you would think the white ones would go at the bottom so the poop from above wouldn’t show ?!)  Anyway, starting to think that there are quite a lot of birds here.  Then I look up, and the sky is absolutely covered with soaring birds, darting this way and that.  Finally, at the end of the trail, I look out and there is “Bird Rock” – Just absolutely covered in birds – Actually all Northern Gannets (11,000+ nesting pairs) on this rock.  On the other rocks are Black-

Legged Kittywakes (10,000+ nesting pairs), Murres (11,000 nesting pairs), Razorbills (150 nesting pairs), and some black Guillemots and Cormorants.  That is a  LOT of birds – and I stand there for a while just soaking the scene in – And smelling it too – kind of mix of fish and guano – Not too bad, but still very noticeable. 

And they are constantly on the move, with the birds on the rock on nests, while (presumably) the males fly around constantly looking for suitable grass, seaweed or anything else to take back to their partners (the Gannets mate for life, apparently) a) to keep them happy, and b) to build their nests.  I did notice a few thieving birds trying to pinch material out of the beaks of others, but they didn’t seem too successful.  One really just had to stand there and watch everything that is

going on.  The gannets are obviously the bosses round here, and are incredible sleek and graceful in the sky, while the kittywakes are much more like small seagulls and not nearly so interesting to watch.

The gannets also have social traits similar to the blue footed boobies on Galapagos – They sit there and kind of joust with their beaks, and then twist their necks around each other, having a lovely time.  And all the time they are soaring effortlessly overhead on the updrafts coming up the cliffs , often coming within a few feet of our heads.  I say “our” because there was a man there from Korea, who the ranger told me comes every year and sits out there in all weathers taking photos.  He doesn’t speak any English, so

after a quick word or two about asking him if he missed his Kimchee, I left him to his photography.  I was somewhat concerned because he sits right on the edge of this 200 ft cliff, swinging his huge camera around  - I decided that if he fell over, I would walk sedately back to the centre and tell them what had happened, because there would be little that could be done to help him !  Later on a girl came down, and she seemed quite happy to sit on the edge too, so I left them too it.  They could pull each other out !

As I left, I looked down to the cliffs at the side where the black birds were – Mostly Common Murres, I understand.  Anyway, one of them appeared to be sitting on a piece of bright bluey green plastic, while another (3^rd) bird seemed to be getting a bit excited – Maybe he wanted the bit of plastic.  I couldn’t see much through my binoculars, so I just took a series of photos of them just out of interest to see if later the enlargements on the computer would show me what was going on.

Well, would you believe it - This evening as I am transferring the photos from my camera to the computer and I realise that in a series of some 7 photos I have captured the birth of a sky blue egg of a Common Murre !!!  It

wasn't a piece of plastic after all !  Now I may not be much of a photographer, but how many people have captured the complete laying of a sky blue egg of a Common Murre on a cliff looking down about 100 feet above the Atlantic Ocean ??  I am quite chuffed - And the fact that they also seem to be in focus is another remarkable achievement (for me !).  And look at the excitement on Mum's face when she realises what she has acheieved !!  She wouldn't have wanted to push too hard or it could have shot straight off over the cliff edge !!

(The rest of the series are in the photos section).



 

I then left and walked back to the centre along the cliffs, just enjoying the walk along the top of these dramatic cliffs on what was turning out to be a (relatively) warm morning, for a change.  I mean, I even had to unzip the top of one of my 5 layers of clothing !  Heat wave.  Back in the centre I saw a picture of the black bird with bright red legs that I had seen yesterday at the puffin colony with Len from BC, and realized it was a Black Guillemot – So that answers that question !

Also learned a little bit about the gannets – These are the birds that can spot fish underwater from great heights and will dive, folding up their wings, and hitting the water at about 60 kmh to catch their supper !  I didn’t see any doing that today, but it must be quite a sight.

I told the staff at the centre that I was most impressed by their road, and they agreed it was the best in Newfoundland, reason being that in winter the centre is closed so they do not use snow ploughs on the road, which apparently tears them up.  They did tell me that just up the road there really IS the worst road in Newfoundland – One that just goes down to the coast at Point Lance. Apparently everyone knows about this road, but I decided not to inspect it !

The countryside is largely this treeless and boggy grassland – I even saw farms for “bog blueberry’s” ???  Do blueberry’s really grow in bogs ?  I also saw the majority of electricity / phone poles planted in wooden boxes full of rocks – I have noticed them elsewhere but only infrequently.  On enquiring, it is because of the bog – If they tried to plant a telegraph pole in it, it would fall over.  So they build these wooden boxes, put the pole in the middle, and then fill the box with big rocks !  Simple, really !

I was heading for Salmonier Nature Park which has injured wild animals, and several people had told me about it.  It is right in the middle of the Avalon Peninsula, and when I finally got there, yup, you guessed it, CLOSED !!!  It opens on 1^st June, which is the day after tomorrow, but I am not waiting down here for 2 days when I have seen most of the animals before elsewhere.   Does annoy me that some things open 1^st May, others on the 15^th, and then more on 1^st June.  And some boat tours I found today only operate in July and August.  Gets frustrating sometimes. 

So after that I decided to wander round the southeastern corner of the Avalon Peninsula for the rest of the day, and eventually found a lovely Provincial Park called La Manche.  (Hmmm, that’s what the French call the English channel !!).  Hardly anyone in the park, but they have good facilities so I am sitting on the edge of a big lake, with unfortunately quite a few bity little flies out for the night !  But I shall keep wandering along the coast tomorrow, and am aiming to get into St John’s on Wednesday afternoon or so when I am going to see Robbie’s parent Ben and Marie, who I stayed with at Norris Point last week, and who have offered to show me around St John’s now they have got home. 

Surprises just keep happening in Newfoundland – I must admit I never expected to see some 70,000 nesting birds on a rock today !! Or an egg being laid !!

Pics Here :-  https://picasaweb.google.com/110185357936043625130/6290927753522619585?authkey=Gv1sRgCMm04dSBuKGG9gE