Burnout!

From Alaska to Jasper/Banff, Banff to Montreal, Montreal to Newfoundland, Newfoundland to Crawfordville; 8400 miles in 24 days, and all driven by Chuck.  But wait… that’s not all!  Since I was on crutches, and unable to handle much in the way of ANY camp duties, Chuck had to slice, dice, cook, clean, and help me get set up in each campground’s shower as well.  What fun for him.

On our way from Alaska, for a long overdue visit with family in Montreal, we made just a few quick stops.  The first was a 2-day stop in Jasper/ Banff.  This area netted us one bird, the Clark’s Nutcracker, and provided enough of an area overview to insure that we will return for a much longer visit. One highlight of the drive included watching an American Dipper doing his thing-they swim! We were able to add Chestnut-collared Longspur, Upland Sandpiper, and Black Tern to our list from roadside sightings. We also made targeted stops at Prentice Park WI to see their Mute Swan, and Hayden Park, Ottawa to add the rare Little Egret to our list.

Montreal allowed us to spend much needed R&R time with Chuck’s sister Salinda and her husband Jacques.  It was so easy to settle into their home for a few days because it strikes that balance of being both beautiful and comfortable.  The “car wash” sized shower for two was not bad either!  Having driven Taxi in his early years, Jacque’s skill zipping around the skinny European style streets of Montreal while describing its culture and history was brilliant! Area food specialties and the cooking at Salinda’s was inspired!  All in all, our retreat from birding was a treat.

From Montreal we drove to the Newfoundland ferry terminal in Nova Scotia. To get as full a flavor of Newfoundland as possible, and maximize our chances at seeing pelagic birds, we took the 6 hour ferry to Port aux Basques circling around the island to take the 16 hour ferry from Argentia back to Nova Scotia a week later.  We were able to add the Greater Shearwater and Black Guillemot on the way over, and on the way back we added Greater Cormorant, Manx Shearwater, Northern Fulmar, and were able to compare the Wilsons and Leaches Storm Petrels (just as described in the field guides, the Wilsons flight is direct and steady with shallow wing beats while the Leach’s bounds like a nighthawk).

Our time in between ferry rides was magic with only one demonic event at the very beginning- my first experience with merciless, vicious, vampire like black flies. We found Newfoundland both quaint and beautiful as we drove the fairly unpopulated Western coastal countryside to Cheeseman Provincial Park, up to Gros Morne National Park, Bonavista and then around to Champney’s West. This is where our friends the Ingle’s have built the perfect summer home and are called “Come From Aways” buy the full time residents.  And what a place to come from away- a vibrant Outport community (think quaint fishing village where the roadside weeds are lupine!) with truly remarkable restaurants. The Ingle’s toured us around the area, including a trip to Elliston for the Atlantic Puffins, and gave us the excellent advice to make the time to see the Gannets at Cape St. Mary’s. The Puffin and Gannet sites were close to overwhelming (sight, sound & smell) since they were both teeming with thousands of birds.

On the ferry from Newfoundland we made our final decision to head home as fast as possible. Although our visits with family and friends were wonderful, the combined pressures of the extra work for Chuck, and the hard push to get from Alaska to Newfoundland coupled with the fact that I couldn’t hike to bird was leaching joy from our adventure.  We did none of the areas we visited justice with the short amount of time spent at each, and vow to return to Jasper/Banff, Montreal, and Newfoundland when we can do so at a much more leisurely pace. We hoped that time at home would help us refresh until- as Billy Joel sings “that old second wind comes around”.