Witless Bay

Happy Father's Day!

Witless Bay Ecological reserve is supposed to have large numbers of birds. This is where the two currents meet and produce the most fish, so the nearby islands have more birds than other places, and there are more whales. Unfortunately the whales have gone south, and so have most of the birds, but there are still at least quarter of a million puffins.

The boats were greeted at the harbour by shearwaters.

When we got to the main island the puffins were everywhere. They weren’t as dense as they were at Puffin Cove, but they all had burrows and were looking after (invisible) young. Other birds were there. It was interesting seeing the puffins flying and swimming. The lighthouse is the Bay Bulls lighthouse.

I went further down the coast. It was a beautiful day, and the coast is very scenic. At Ferryland, the first English settlement is being excavated. It had a long stony beach that was perfect for drying cod, as well as a Bay on the other side where ships could harbour.

As my last stop in Newfoundland, I visited Cape Spear and its lighthouse, the most easterly point in Canada. From there I could see St. John’s, and Signal Hill where I was yesterday.

Tomorrow I will wake early to get a plane to Labrador. I suspect that I probably won’t have any internet for the whole of the next week.