This is the third part of the summary of my birding trip to Newfoundland, detailing Days 9 through 11. The prior two blog posts summarized the first 8 days of the trip.
Day 9 - June
29 – AM Partly Cloudy and up to 70; PM – cloudy and very windy, temps in the
50s
The day
started at 4:30 AM with a pre-dawn attempt for Ptarmigans (and Short-ears)
along the Cape St. Mary’s access road, but with no luck. Though I did find a Merlin perched along the
road.
What to do
next? I still had 2 full days and a half
day of birding time remaining on my trip, and would be concentrating on the
Avalon Peninsula for birding both along the shorelines as well as with a few
inland targets. The weather was to be
good on the 29th, but was to be rainy and windy the next two
days. Given that forecast I decided to
try to hit as many spots as possible on this day just in case conditions
weren’t conducive for birding the next couple days. And if the weather was OK, I could also stop
at sites on more than one day, especially the coastal/seawatch sites.
So since it
was still early I decided to head to LaManche Provincial Park to try for
Gary-cheeked Thrush. This was my only
key remaining passerine target for which early morning song could be helpful,
so it was nice to get to the park at 7:45 that morning. Recent sightings of Gray-cheek had been along
the LaManche village access road (though not for more than 2 weeks), and also
within the last week along the park entrance road. I first spent some time along the entrance
road without any luck, so I headed to the LaManche access road. Luckily I ran into a local resident who
explained where to go – first a long hike uphill along a steep gravel road,
then a left hand turn onto a trail to the suspension bridge. Once on the trail there was a fair amount of
song, dominated by Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (6 singing birds), with a pair of
Boreal Chickadees and a Pine Grosbeak. I
had walked at least a mile when I heard a bird giving some sharp chip notes
that I didn’t recognize. I did some
pishing and although this bird never showed itself I started to hear a singing
Gray-cheeked Thrush not too far off the trail.
(I’m glad I stopped to listen to the chipping bird) The Thrush continued to sing off and on for
the next 15 minutes, moving around a fair amount through the brushy woods, but
unfortunately never in view. In my 2
hour-long hike I only had 17 species, but one was my key target for this spot.
The next
stop was at St. Michael’s a short distance to the north along the coast where
there was a large nesting colony of Puffins and a smaller colony of Fulmars. The nesting islands are just off-shore in
this photo.
As soon as I
pulled up I could see numerous Puffins flying about. And then within seconds I picked out the
first of several Fulmars soaring through the area. That was easy. I spent quite a bit of time continuing to
watch these birds as they moved around the islands, along with Guillemots on
the water below, and a fair number of Kittiwakes as well. And during this time both an immature and
adult Bald Eagle passed by, each escorted out of the area by gulls.
Next I had
planned to head south to look for coastal birds. But I was about 30 minutes south of a
stakeout rare Eastern Kingbird, which had stayed at Gould’s Forest Pond for
about a week. It was unusual for a
Kingbird to stick around so long, and since it was a rarity, I decided to head
north to give it a try first before heading to the coast. One post mentioned it was flycatching from
“the rock where ducks often perch”, so when I pulled up and saw a rock near the
western end of the pond with a Pintail perched on it, I thought I had the
correct spot. I got out and waited a few
minutes but didn’t see the Kingbird.
Then I realized that maybe I wasn’t at the correct rock. I looked to the southeast and noticed another
rock in the water with more ducks perched on it. I drove up to that rock and a family of
Pintails was perched on that rock too.
Then I noticed several Waxwings flycatching in some nearby trees. A couple seconds later I spotted the Eastern
Kingbird flycatching along with them. I
got this phonescoped photo as it perched cooperatively with several of the
Waxwings.
Next I
headed south for some seabirding along the southern coastline of the Avalon
Peninsula. I was planning to be in the
same areas tomorrow, but rain was forecasted so I thought it would be good to
bird some of these same sites today as well.
Though I did make a quick stop in the town of Renews along the way where
a feeding station was well-known to attract southern vagrants. Most recently a male Ruby-throated
Hummingbird had been a sporadic visitor.
I stayed at the feeders for about 30 minutes, but with no visits of the
Hummer. Though a pair of juvenile Red
Crossbills was nice, along with a diverse collection of sparrows – Fox, Song,
White-throated, and Savannah.
It was now
mid-afternoon, and I didn’t have time for detailed stops at all my planned
coastal spots. Plus the weather was going
downhill with strong winds and rain predicted for late in the day. I decided to pass on a drive out to Cape Race
- that one would have to wait till tomorrow.
Instead I headed to Portugal Cove South where recent reports had
included a large flock of gulls including a Laughing Gull, along with several
diving ducks. As I arrived there was a
flock of perhaps 150 Kittiwakes wheeling over Portugal Cove Pond. The flock then headed south out to the cove
and all landed on the water. Later they
flew out to the open water, then returned to once again to fly as a flock over
the pond, and then again to the Cove.
Interesting set of activities.
Then I tried
to position myself to look for seaducks in the cove. The wind was really howling generally out of
the south almost right in my face. I
could see a few ducks in the distance, but viewing conditions were pretty
bad. So I headed to the western side of
the cove which was somewhat sheltered from the wind, and was able to scan the
cove more effectively. The best I could
find was a small flock of Scoters in the distance, 4 of which I could ID as
White-wings, but 6 stayed as Scoter, sp.
Next I
headed a short distance to the west to Biscay Bay for another shot at
seaducks. The orientation of this bay
was a little different from the last one, and it was a bit more protected from
the wind. With scanning a lot easier, I
picked out 6 different flocks of Scoters – with an exact count of 69
White-wings. Plus one flock had a pair
of male Black Scoters which were new for my Newfoundland list. But the best bird was an all brown duck that
really stood out in one of the scoter flocks.
The flock was distant and the birds were disappearing behind waves and
diving, so viewing was difficult. In the
5 minutes I watched this flock I could see that the bird was similar in size to
the White-wings, brown bodied instead of black, had a pale chest, dark head,
and pale bill. It was most likely a
young male King Eider. In my native New
England we often find a rare King Eider in with Scoter flocks rather than with
Common Eiders. Not sure if that is the
experience in Newfoundland.
It was now
getting late but I still had time for a stop at Trepassey just to the west of
Biscay. My first stop was in the protected
harbor where a female Red Phalarope has been reported each of the last 2
days. Unfortunately it had moved on –
that’s too bad since that would have been an attractive bird to see. A consolation was this Long-tailed Duck that
was perched on a rock with a pair of Common Terns.
Next my
attention turned to the seabirds out on the open bay. Luckily the bay was surprisingly protected
from the wind, and the waters were actually quite calm. Far off to the east I thought I could see a
Red-throated Loon, but it was really distant.
So I took a walk along the shoreline to the east at the bottom of
Fanny’s Pond. Now that I was much closer
I not only had a good view of the basic plumaged Red-throated I likely saw
earlier, but also 2 others in nearly full alternate plumage. Plus I found a male Common Eider swimming with
a pair of Long-tailed Ducks close to shore.
It was
starting to rain a bit, and it was closing in on dinner time, so I decided to
call it quits. Happy with my additions
to bring my Newfoundland list up to 137, covering 5.2 miles on foot with 12,400
steps.
Day 10 - June
30 – Dense fog, strong winds, and rain south; cloudy and fog north, highs in
the 50s
The forecast
was for lots of rain and strong southerly winds for the entire day. Not the best weather for a day of coastal
birding. But rather than getting depressed
about the prospects of birding in the rain, I was instead trying to stay upbeat
about the possibilities of the bad weather causing seabird fallouts on the
south facing coast. However, there was one
additional factor not in the forecast that I couldn’t prepare for – dense
fog. As I left my B&B in the early
morning it was drizzling a bit with a few patches of fog. But as I got closer to the coast the fog got
thicker, and thicker. On the coast
visibility was just a few feet – here are a couple pictures when the fog had
actually lifted a bit.
Needless to
say not conducive for seawatches. Stops
at Trepassey, Biscay, and Portugal Cove South were basically worthless. I even tried driving down St. Schott Rd. but
hardly saw a single bird in the reduced visibility.
Next I tried
Cape Race, but the results were just the same.
I saw one Pipit in the parking lot at the lighthouse, and 2 Least
Sandpipers sitting on the road along the way.
So much for hoping to see Short-eared Owls or Ptarmigans. Around lunchtime I found myself sitting in
the lighthouse parking lot in the wind and fog feeling pretty sorry for
myself. Just then a car pulled up and
the driver was trying to get my attention.
He said he was Cliff the lighthouse keeper, and was inviting me to his
house for lunch. He said he had just
fixed a turkey dinner! I followed Cliff
back to the house and had a very nice dinner – obviously much better than the
PB&J I was planning on. It turned
out that Cliff was also a birder, and he could see seabirds flying by right
from the house (when it wasn’t foggy that is).
He said he had the province’s first records of Common Swift and Cave
Swallow from this spot. If only the
weather conditions were better that day.
The weather
wasn’t forecasted to change any time soon, so I thanked Cliff for his
hospitality and starting driving north in hopes that I could get out of the
fog. The weather did indeed improve
remarkably, and I decided to try yet again at the Renews feeding station. With lots of extra time on my hands I stayed
more than an hour, but again struck out on the Hummingbird.
During my
planning efforts I had noticed a road headed east out of Renews ending at Bear
Cove Point. There were a couple eBird
posts from this site, and the weather had improved quite a bit, so I thought
I’d give it a try. Visibility was
actually pretty good, though it was raining a bit. So with the rain suit on I was able to spend
a good 90 minutes doing a seawatch from the point. There was a steady movement of both Puffins
and large alcids flying south, though almost all the dark alcids were too far
out to ID. Plus there were Guillemots
and a few Razorbills feeding near the coast.
That was all nice, but what I was really hoping for was storm-tossed
Storm-Petrels, or Manx Shearwaters – realistically the last seabirds I could
hope to add to my list. I had one Great
Shearwater fly north, which was promising.
Then I noticed 4 Shearwaters flying south quite close. Even before getting them in the scope I could
see they were one uniform color above and had rapid wingbeats – Manx
Shearwaters. A nice addition. By the end of my seawatch I estimated 100
Puffins and 400 large alcids passed by, along with 25 Guillemots, 1 Great
Shearwater, and of course the 4 Manx.
Manx was the
only new bird for my Newfoundland list that day, now at 138. And given that most of the day I was in my
car trying to cut the fog with a knife, I only walked 2.3 miles.
Day 11 – July
1 – Partly cloudy, highs in the 50s
My flight
out of St. John’s was at 2 PM, so I had the morning to bird in the area. I had very few targets remaining, and all
were long shots. So I thought I’d be
lucky to add anything to my province list, but of course wanted to give it a
try. The first was an adult Purple
Gallinule that had been seen rather unreliably along a suburban stream in Waterford
Valley. But it hadn’t been seen for 10
days so I wasn’t optimistic. I gave it
about 90 minutes searching several possible locations along the creek with no
success.
My next
target was Tufted Duck. A male had been
reported in Burton’s Pond 10 days earlier, but within a couple minutes after I
arrived at this small pond I could see that the bird was no longer
present. A couple weeks earlier one was
reported several times from Kent’s Pond and nearby Kenny’s Pond, so that was my
next option. I pulled up to Kent’s Pond
and quickly spotted a group of 5 diving ducks in the distance. With a quick binocular view the first thing I
noticed was the peaked head of a Lesser Scaup – a nice rarity and addition to
my list. Then through the scope I
noticed that one of the birds was a male Tufted Duck. Along with 3 Greaters, I had 3 Aythya species
together. No Ring-necks in site though.
The last
stop was to try for rare Killdeer at Stick Pond. A pair had been reported there over 3 weeks
earlier but only that one time this year on eBird. I pulled up to a horse pasture just before
getting to the pond and did a quick scan – no Killdeer. But then I heard a Killdeer calling from
behind me, followed by a second bird.
They were calling from another pasture that wasn’t visible from Stick
Pond Road, so I headed back to Logy Bay Road and pulled up to a horse barn
giving me a view of that field. Within a
few seconds I had the pair calling again, and one landed in a field right in
front of me. Here’s a picture of the
bird taken by holding my phone up to my binocs.
What a nice
way to end my trip – my 141st species for Newfoundland. Perhaps fittingly, as I neared the airport
the fog rolled in and the temps dropped to the mid 40s. That’s July in Newfoundland I guess.
The Trip by
the Numbers
- 141 total species in Newfoundland, including finding a bunch of rarities, headlined by a Sandwich Tern, plus multiple stakeouts. To think I only expected about 96 species.
- Found 95 of the 96 species that I thought were “likely” – I only missed Sharp-shinned Hawk – amazing!
- 19 warbler species, with the most common being 58 Yellows, 56 Black-and-whites, 44 Northern Waterthrushes, 40 Magnolias, and 40 Black-throated Greens.
- 96 Yellow-bellied Flycatchers – likely more than I’ve ever seen in all my 51 years of birding combined!
- 0 species on St. Pierre as that part of my trip was canceled
- 7 new Canada species – total now at 376
- 1,488 ATPAT – sum of my total ticks in the Canadian Provinces
- 4 of days with heavy rain, often strong winds, very dense fog, and even one day when it snowed heavily enough that the roads were slushy. Often requiring me to vary my plans to do landbirding when it wasn’t raining (or at least not raining very hard), and bird from the car when the conditions were the worst.
- 61.2 miles and 144,600 steps walked.
- 4,000 kilometers driven (2,500 miles) – I had to cover a lot of area. At least my rental car was a hybrid getting 5.7 L/100 km (or 41.5 mpg if I did the math right)Once again many thanks to Alvan Buckley and Jared Clarke for their help on a most successful trip to Newfoundland!
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