Brigus South

Many times I have driven by the exit to Brigus South. On last Sunday it became a destination and a worthy one at that. Brigus South is thought to have been first settled in 1636 by the French. The name Brigus translates into harbour of turmoil and tides. Yet, the harbour is beautiful and looks tranquil. The beach is not accessible by car which adds to its mystic and beauty.

With the capelin now in shore there were many sea birds scooping them up. Among them were Black-legged Kittiwakes, other typical gulls, Atlantic Puffins and Razorbills.

This was my first time to see Razorbills from shore. When I first walked out to the rocks, I spotted a dark-headed gull among the kittiwakes on the rocks. By the time I lowered my binoculars and raised my camera, it was gone. The head was dark....in the light it is hard to say if it was dark brown or black. I did see the legs clearly and they appeared to be a deep maroon. I walked quite far out on the rocks and sat to wait it out. After 15 or 20 minutes, it didn't return. I scanned the many birds flying around but never saw it again.

 Should anyone be going that way, keep a watch for that mysterious gull.

Ironically, I had traversed several areas of treacherous rocks without incident. On the trail returning to the car, I stepped up on a small mound to take the picture of the fishing shed above when my foot slipped on the grass. Down I went scraping the palm of my hand on a jagged rock as I tried to break the fall.

Well, my old Nemesis reared its ugly head! When I saw the blood and not knowing how deep the cuts were, I immediately put pressure on the palm of my hand and sped up in my attempt to get to the car before I got sick.

I did make it to the car and put my head down but it was too late, the sickness had a grip on me. I stumbled to the closest clump of grass before I became totally incapacitated...so weak that I couldn't even hold the keys that were in my hand. The cold sweat took over and the nausea was indescribable. This was not a first for me as it does happen about once every two years or so when I see blood, especially around the hands. Don't know why and I can't control it.

I was very grateful to have had a friend with me and two others who added some water to the cause and helped to elevate my feet. After being doused with water and with a bit of time, I began to feel better. All in all it was about 15 minutes of misery. Once it all passed, by contrast I felt so good that I was able to go on about the day as if nothing had happened. This little incident reminded me how important it is to not go out alone. It is sometimes the least expected moment when a mishap can occur.

The picture of the goose above is a Greylag Goose that has been a long-time resident of this community.

Oh, yes, I almost forgot. There is a very different structure across the harbour that is worth mentioning. It looks to be made of aluminum and was built by a man from Norway. The story goes that he came to the community and built this Norwegian cabin by the sea with no door, mind you, and returned summer after summer to reside there. Then, without notice, he stopped coming. I don't know how I missed taking a picture of that.

So there are several reasons for returning to Brigus South: 1) To find the mystery gull; 2) to take a picture of the Norwegian Cabin; 3) to see the Razorbills; and 4) to just drink in the beautiful scenery now knowing more of the history of the community.

East Coast Trail: La Manche Bridge

To continue my story from the previous post, we struck out on the East Coast Trail heading into the resettled community of La Manche. We weren't long into the trail when I realized that the East Coast Trail is not for the faint of heart or flip flops.  I was wishing that I had climbing spikes on my hiking shoes before we got too far in.

We were told that the hike would take about 20 minutes. Well, for us it took an hour. Keep in mind, however, that I did stop frequently to look and listen to the birds in the trail.  At last we arrived at the La Manche Bridge. The hike proved to be well worth the effort.

The community is thought to have been settled in 1840 reaching a level of about 54 residents. By 1966 when a storm destroyed most of the stages and structures in the area, the remaining 25 residents gave in to resettlement.  For more information and pictures of the community prior to resettlement, please visit: http://www.mun.ca/mha/resettlement/lamanche_1.php

When we reached the shoreline, I spoke with a man that told me that there were plovers over on the rocks. That was all it took for me to dare to go even further up and down the rocky shoreline. I didn't find any plover but I did encounter this friendly Spotted Sandpiper. He stayed out on the rock for quite some time bobbing up and down and scurrying around.

 After enjoying the scenery, fresh air and sun, we headed back. Being novices at the East Coast Trail, we forgot to take some water in. That was a bad mistake. The climb upward back to the car really took its toll.

 On the way out we met an older lady decked out in all of her hiking gear and carrying poles to steady the climb. When we passed her she muttered, "Right off the boat." I think that I was offended! It happened so quickly that we were not able to reply... probably a good thing.

That, however, made me think that to a stranger she saw us carrying binoculars, cameras and panting the whole way up. I get her observation that we were not accustomed to hiking was not too far off base.

When we reached the car, getting a drink was all that was on our mind. We met a family that was heading in for their first hike. The teen girl was wearing flip flops. Even though they were told that might not be the best thing, they heading in anyway. I wonder how far that went.

While driving out of the La Manche road, I spotted this orange bird. With the quickness and all of the shadows, I didn't know what it was. I don't know any orange birds except an oriole and this bird was a bit bigger than that. I tracked it until a got a picture and was very surprised to learn that Pine Grosbeaks can be orange instead of red. When I saw it on a tree top in the distance, I knew that I was looking at a Pine Grosbeak but I couldn't see the color of the distant bird. This orange really threw me off. Every minute of every birding expedition is an on-going learning experience.

Summer has arrived!

 What a difference a day makes! On Canada Day, late in the afternoon, the weather turned. The sun came out, the temps rose and the wind dropped. It was a perfect evening for a BBQ and a pit fire.

It is like centimeters of snow and millimeters of rain just lifted off my shoulders. The next three days were perfect summer days. With UV protector and Deep Woods Off splattered all over me, I headed out birding on Sunday and Monday.


On Sunday I decided to go someplace new. When birding the Southern Shore using a full day in the usual places often limits stopping into the many communities along the way. Sunday I decided to make La Manche and Brigus South my destinations instead of drivebys.

First stop was La Manche Park where I learned that the trail to the bridge was a little further up the road. There I ran into another pair of birders enjoying the Wilson's Warblers. We were told of the American Redstarts at the entrance to the park but I couldn't find them right away so we headed on to the East Coast Trail.

Signs of summer were everywhere. This great little Tiger Swallowtail popped out of the woods and enjoyed some nectar long enough for me to get a few shots.

Bird watching and so much more

A birding buddy and I headed to the Southern Shore for a day's birding. Like many, our ultimate destination was Bear Cove Point Road in Renews. This area is frequented by many local birders, particularly during migration. On this trip we decided to park the car and walk the road as it was a rare 17c degrees. My best estimate of the distance of the road is between 2 to 3 kms. It was a very pleasant stroll with sparrows being the predominant bird sighted.

Once at the end of the road, just past the lighthouse is a typical, yet amazing view of this province's rugged coastline. It really is captivating!  The original reason for going down this road was to watch birds, but Nature offered up so many unexpected special treats. 

On the return walk I thought it would be a good idea to count the sparrows as a curiosity. Since there were so many on the walk in, I thought we would tally a lot of birds. Well, that didn't happen. It was like the birds changed shifts. The sparrows were not so numerous and the warblers were more active.

On the way back we came upon this rabbit. I don't know much about rabbits but I think this is a Snowshoe Hare. I read that they are not native to this province but were introduced in the 1870s.

 This little guy was very contented to continue eating grass while keeping an eye on us as we were quite close. It was surprising that it didn't take off but stayed for 3 or 4 minutes. In rabbit time that is a lot.

This was probably my closest and best view of a rabbit. It may be because the road is seldom travelled and the creatures in the area feel quite safe.

 In addition to seeing many different species of birds, drinking in the wonder of the waves crashing against the rocks and watching this hare, we also had the great benefit of a three-hour walk and the extra exercise of batting away the black flies. How do you beat that?