Alice and I had been to Canada multiple times, but neither of us had ever been to the Canadian Maritime Provinces. We considered various options for going there, and finally decided to take a Tauck tour. Although the tour emphasis was on history, culture, and scenery, and not birding, I thought that I might see a few avian species there. For the six months prior to the trip, I researched various electronic and hardbound birding guides, and determined that there was the potential for me to see about 10 life birds (avian species seen by me for the first time), and I hoped to see at least 3 or 4 of them. All of the rest of the avian species were birds that I see here in Virginia. By the end of the trip, I had seen 54 avian species, but only 2 of them were life birds. I saw numerous avian species that I could not identify or photograph as we traveled on the tour bus. The following report details highlights of the trip. Many of the avian species were seen at multiple locations, and I have posted at the end of this report, a complete list of avian species seen on the trip.
|
The start of the tour was as 5 p.m. today with a tour and dinner at the nearby military Citadel, so we had the day to explore on our own. We awoke to bright and sunny skies. Our plan was to visit the Citadel during good daylight hours, the public gardens, and then spend the afternoon on the waterfront.
|
As we walked the path around the outside of the Citadel, I saw a Herring Gull and a Savannah Sparrow.
Savannah Sparrow
It was a short walk from there to the public gardens. Many of the flowers in bloom had been in flower and gone in Virginia two months earlier. The Rhododendrons were amazing to see, as this plant species likes the cooler and wetter weather. We saw Mallards with very young ducklings. I don't know if this was a second brood, or if the first brood occurs later in this northern latitude. |
Mallards
Red-eyed Vireo
Song Sparrow
We saw lots of gulls along the waterfront, but all of them that I could identify were either Herring or Great Black-Backed Gulls.
Herring Gulls
Herring Gull
Great Black-Backed Gull