For centuries, Newfoundland has been a maritime and avian crossroads. The island, home to tough people infused with humor and tenderness, is affectionately called “The Rock.” Independent to the bone, locals refer to the day that Newfoundland became a province (March 31, 1949) as “the day Canada joined us.”
The violence of the sea and underlying tectonic action have left their mark. The Rock’s stunning and picturesque cliffs are evidence of millennia of shifting tides and seismic disruption.
The island’s birding legacy is strong: John James Audubon collected here in 1833; Roger Tory Peterson and James Fisher devoted the first two chapters of 1953’s Wild America to their experience on the Avalon Peninsula, North America’s easternmost point. And Peterson provided many of the illustrations for 1961’s Birds of Newfoundland.
The Avalon makes up the southeastern portion of the island of Newfoundland. It covers more than 3,560 square miles (9,220 sq kilometers) and has recorded nearly 400 bird species. I spent four days exploring the Avalon in June learning about the place: its Irish-imbued music and language, seafaring legacy, and, naturally, the avian population that inhabits its rugged shores. Let me tell you about the experience.
Day 1:
Getting our bearings
On my first day, our tour group received the lay of the land from Shawn Doyle, a tour guide (and school teacher, musician, and hockey defenseman) from the town of Petty Harbour. By 11:30 a.m., he had us singing the classic Irish ballad The Fields of Athenry in the van en route to Cape Spear Lighthouse.
After visiting the famed lighthouse, we walked part of) and its iceberg-infused beer. On the way, we did our first real birding, spying an American Pipit on the path, a Dark-eyed Junco singing lustily from a pine, and a Bald Eagle soaring above. The massive eagle’s nest farther down the path, however, was abandoned. From the brewery deck, we spotted terns and Mallards fishing the inlet.
