John and Cathy in Newfoundland 2013: Northern Gannets by the Thousands

Wednesday, July 17

The breakfast component of the Rosedale B&B is served at Phil's Cafe, about a ten minute walk from the house down a road and across an ancient platform bridge. The bridge deck can be raised about 30 feet to allow boats to pass through the gap. From the rusty appearance of the structure, it seems unlikely that it has been used for that purpose for some time. Adjacent to the old structure a construction crew is putting in pilings for a new $50 million bridge, much to the annoyance of the locals who find the old bridge suits them just fine. It's yet another example--in a long list--of government folly in Newfoundland. Later, at Cape St. Mary's Ecological Bird Reserve we discovered that Tony, an experienced guide who led tourists on fascinating walks to the cliffs for eighteen years, was given the axe by the government to cut costs.

Back to breakfast: Phil the cook/baker does up a very good breakfast for guests of the Rosedale. Bread (three choices) is made daily. Cathy had oatmeal porridge with blueberries (with delicious molasses-raisin bread), while John had a full breakfast which included baked ham.

Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve is about an hour south of Placentia on a winding, not-very-good highway. It's a pretty drive for the passenger, but not the driver who had to navigate up and down steep hills and around hair-pin turns all the while dodging potholes. The 13 km drive off the highway to the Reserve is on an extremely narrow road. I have no idea how two RVs would meet on the road. We slowed almost to a stop to meet oncoming vehicles.

Tens of thousands of birds are to be found nesting on the cliffs about one mile from the interpretation centre at Cape St. Mary's. Two unexpected sensory experiences happen as you get closer to the so-called Bird Rock: (1) the sound of thousands of bird actively going about their daily life is amplified and fills the amphitheatre-shaped curved bay, and (2) there is a distinctive, but not altogether unpleasant odour. Neither sensory experience should come as a surprise when one considers that there are literally thousands of birds entirely covering the dome-shaped Bird Rock and nesting on the sheer cliffs on either side. The cliffs seem like a moving wall of white, even from a mile away. In the meantime, there are thousands of other birds which are airborne or looking for a landing spot on the over-crowded rocks. The birds seemed to have worked out an effective system to claim their ground space and negotiate the crowded sky. Air traffic controllers could take lessons from the birds which never seem to collide, although they fly at amazing speeds mere feet from each other. It is the most amazing place--there is constant movement and noise in every direction. Standing a couple of metres back from the lip of a 200 foot cliff is not for the faint of heart or those suffering from vertigo.

The most prominent bird is the Northern Gannet. It has a long, pointed bill with a pale yellow head and neck. In flight they are characterized by black wing tips. Their wing spread is almost two metres. Chris, the pleasant and informative naturalist at the site, explained that gannets from here think nothing of flying as far as Greenland in search of food--capelin, herring and mackerel. They plunge from the sky at amazing speeds and sometimes from a height of 30 metres. The gannets have a hierarchy. The senior nesting birds (there are 5400 pairs) have priority on Bird Rock, while junior nesting pairs have to make do with the adjacent cliffs. Gannets arrive in March, breed and hatch their young. Both parents take care of the young--one is always on the nest while the other hunts for food which is regurgitated; the young plunge their heads into the long beaks of the parents to retrieve food.

The other two species found in large numbers at Cape St.Mary's are murres and black-legged kittiwakes. The kittiwakes are white but with a shorter wingspan than the gannets. Murres, quite a bit smaller, have black heads and backs, with white breasts and bellies. They tend to sit on ledges and aren't as visible as the gannets. Other seabirds found here include cormorants and razorbills--although in the noise and confusion it was difficult for inexperienced birders such as us to identify them. Chris, who seems almost to know the birds on a personal level, pointed out two murre chicks which were born a few days ago.

The Ecological Reserve is an amazing place. It is easy to see that people who live close by could become avid bird watchers. For visitors, it is well worth the side trip on the narrow road.

Tourism is a big industry in Newfoundland. Nonetheless, in some ways, the Islanders have a few obvious things that need improvement. Notably, there is a lack of adequate signs directing tourists to important sites. This afternoon, for example, on the way between Cape St. Mary's and St. Mary's (where our B&B is), we decided to stop at the Cataract Falls which is in a Provincial Park near Colinet. One would think that a provincial park would merit signs to assist tourists. The two cascading waterfalls are in a tall, narrow gorge. We spotted a sign, partially hidden behind trees that led us to a nondescript gravel road with no indication if the falls were 100 metres away or 20 km! We finally stopped in a place where the road widened and parked the car. It turns out we were at the Falls--quite by accident--but there were no signs whatsoever to indicate that we had arrived. We have noticed elsewhere an absence of signs. In many cases, where they exist, signs are obscured by trees or bushes that have not been trimmed.

We are staying at the Claddagh Inn, a new structure built on the site of the former St. Mary's Convent. It has five guest rooms and a small Irish pub which has an impressive selection of single malt scotch. Some of the wood in the pub, the floor for example, comes from the nunnery. Patrick and Carol, retired from the RCAF, bought the B&B in 2011 and have worked hard to make it a popular tourist destination. They also serve lunch and dinner (but not on Wednesday and Thursday evenings--which is too bad since we were looking forward to a good meal). TripAdvisor rates this B&B highly. For dinner, we are reluctantly going to the only other eating place in the area, a typical Newfoundland pub where virtually everything is deep friend and comes with chips. There is a pronounced tendency, except in very high end restaurants, for much of the food in Newfoundland to be deep fried.