First Visit to the Cape

The first spring visit to Cape St. Mary's always reminds me what a wonderful and varied place this is. Known primarily as a nesting site for thousands of northern gannets, it also provides a feeding ground for bald eagles and ravens, typical habitat for savannah sparrows and horned larks, and forms part of the range of the southern Avalon caribou herd.

I arrived in the early morning and started down the trail from the visitor centre; visible even from this distance, a juvenile bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) was circling high above the cove, the sun highlighting its mottled colours.

Another few minutes of walking brought me to the main point near Bird Rock, the centre of the gannet (Morus bassanus) nesting area.  This point overlooks the rock, and in another month it will be possible to spot the first of the year's chicks, guarded by their protective parents. Now, though, it's only adult birds that are visible, soaring overheard or returning to the nesting sites with seaweed or twine for nest repairs.

Returning along the trail, I heard the unmistakable trill of a savannah sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) from just ahead. There it was, perched on one of the stakes that mark the trail.

The day's real treat, though, came in the form of a handful of caribou (Rangifer tarandus) trotting across the Eastern Hyper-oceanic Barrens. They were a hundred metres away, and seemed unconcerned at my presence. They'll soon begin to shed their pale winter coats, taking on a darker, sleeker look for summer. It will be fascinating to watch the changes that take place here at the Cape between now and October.

Recognizing the Value of Nature's Wonders

The Ecological Reserves at Witless Bay and Cape St. Mary's and Baccalieu Island are natural treasures on Newfoundland and Labrador's Avalon Peninsula. They're linked in more than geography, though; they're all under the oversight of the Parks and Natural Areas Division, Department of Environment and Conservation and they're very precious places indeed. They serve as nesting areas for a number of seabird species and among them they contain the world's largest and second-largest Leach's storm petrel breeding colonies along with North America's largest Atlantic puffin colony, and North America's most accessible northern gannet nesting area. Cape St. Mary's is the nesting site for roughly 70,000 nesting pairs of birds, the Witless Bay Reserve houses 620,000 pairs of Leach's storm petrels and 260,000 pairs of Atlantic puffins, while Baccalieu Island hosts an incredible 3,360,000 pairs of these petrels along with a diverse range of other seabirds.

These birds aren't here just for the scenery, although it's admittedly beautiful. They're here because the islands and coastal cliffs are composed of a variety of nesting options from earth for digging burrows to narrow rocky ledges. Their fecundity is immense; 3.36 million pairs of Leach's storm petrels, or over 6.7 million individual birds, at roughly 13 oz. (380 grams) per bird adds up to nearly 5.5 million pounds of petrels. That's not counting the year's hatch of nestlings! The nesting areas are situated near immediate sources of food, ranging from plankton and krill to massive schools of caplin; it takes a vast quantity of marine life to sustain this population, and the nesting season is linked to the arrival of these vital food sources; it's all part of the intricate balance of seabird life.

These reserves are special places that truly are among the world's wonders. They deserve protection, preservation, and recognition.

Breaking Winter's Hold

Spring is gradually making its presence known on the Eastern Hyper-oceanic Barrens, as the snow begins to melt and the warmth of the sun reaches the earth beneath. What was once an unbroken expanse of white has become a mottled, patchy landscape where the deepest drifts remain but bare ground is showing through. Bird Rock is the spot where thousands of northern gannets (Morus bassanus) will soon be arriving to begin their nesting ritual; today it's completely bare, swept clean of nesting materials by winter's storms and gales. Ironically, it won't
be long before it's once again covered in white; this time, though, it will be the snowy white plumage of the gannets that provides the coverage. The gannets begin to arrive in mid-March, older birds returning to the nesting sites they've used in the past. The other birds that nest here will arrive soon as well; in fact, the first of the kittiwakes have already returned but are not nesting on the sheltered rocky ledges they prefer. The murres will soon be back, gathering on even narrower edges where they'll lay their conical eggs directly on the rock without benefit of a nest, and the razorbills will be seeking rocky niches for their eggs as well.

Today the Cape is silent apart from the sound of the breeze whispering through the low-growing grasses. Soon, though, the air will be filled with the cries of thousands of seabirds as they wheel above or plummet into the sea to feed in an electrifying display. The caplin will be coming into the beaches to spawn, and the whales will follow them close inshore as the summer progresses. The rich life-cycle of the Cape is at a low ebb now, but the tide is turning fast.