Sunday 23 December 2012

Cape Race CBC

This was my first time doing this count - and I have to say, I really enjoyed it!

As usual the day started early, but we were quickly delayed when our key to the Chance Cove Provincial Park gate wouldn't work. I elected to make the 6km trek to the beach, and let the rest of my group check other more accessible areas. I'm happy I made the decision to do the walk because it was a rare day with no wind in the area, making it easy to hear the birds.


Right away I had a couple of male Pine Grosbeaks:


Later down the road were Gray Jays:


A Black-backed Woodpecker was also along the road giving me a nice list of boreal species.

A view of the road that I hiked to get to Chance Cove:


Some highlights from the cove itself include 5 Bufflehead (previous high for the count was 4), and a female Mallard (a new species for the count, believe it or not!) Here's the list of all the species seen here.

The Cape Race lighthouse was visible from the cove:


On my return walk I found a Shrike and a Hairy Woodpecker, both species I had never seen in Newfoundland before. I have more embarrassing ones that I still haven't seen...

Back at Portugal Cove South there were a few neat birds kicking around.

A Red-throated Loon wasn't too far offshore:

Dovekies were plentiful:

And a single Purple Sandpiper allowed a close approach:


Check out Bruce Mactavish's summary of the day here.

A short clip of some of the birds:
I'm not sure why the quality is terrible... the version I have looks way better...