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Newfoundland

Atlantic Puffin - Fratercula arctica © Dave Snow http://www.wildlands.com

Newfoundland is the world`s sixteenth largest island at a latitude south of Paris, France. The arctic waters of the Labrador Current that flows along its northern shore dominate the climate. In the southern areas the warmer water of the Gulf Stream have more influence and winters can be surprisingly mild. At the confluence of the two currents over the Grand Banks of Newfoundland fog is common. The mineral rich waters support abundant marine life and a large varied population of marine birds.

Around 40 million seabirds visit the plankton rich waters of Newfoundland every year. During the winter months the ice-free waters of the Newfoundland South Coast provide over-wintering habitat for millions of arctic birds. In spring these populations migrate north to their breeding sites and are replaced by millions of birds that have over-wintered offshore on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. They are soon joined by migrants from southern latitudes and, in the case of the Arctic Terns, from the southern hemisphere. By May these millions of birds are busily engaged in breeding and nesting in hundreds of sites along the coast.

Just about every small island and cliff face has a colony of nesting birds. The most important have been given Ecological Reserve status.

Newfoundland is also home to the largest population of Bald Eagles in Eastern North America.

This page brought to you in association with:
Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism

top sites

Cape St. Mary

Cape St. Mary is another Ecological Reserve on the southern Avalon Peninsula; it has a spectacular population of nesting Gannets plus a variety of other species.

Witless Bay Ecological Reserve

The Witless Bay Ecological Reserve near St. John`s comprises three islands: Great, Gull and Green. This reserve contains the largest Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) colony in North America. Green Island contains North America`s second largest colony of common murres.

contributor

Dave Snow
Photograph Contributor - Wildland Tours - Escorted Adventures in Newfoundland
(St. John`s, Newfoundland)
wildtour@nfld.com
http://www.wildlands.com

Anna Buffinga
(Newfoundland Coastal Safari)
coastalsafari@coastalsafari.com
http://www.coastalsafari.com

numbers

Number of bird species:378
Provincial Bird - Atlantic Puffin Fraterculus arctica

useful reading

Newfoundland Birds: Exploitation, Study, Conservation

by William A. Montevecchi & Leslie M. TuckPublisher: Nuttall Ornithological Club 1987
ISBN: 9997639995
Buy this book from NHBS.com

clubs

Natural History Society

http://www.nhs.nf.ca/
The Natural History Society is a province-wide organization with a primary interest in promoting the enjoyment and protection of all wildlife and natural history resources in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador and surrounding waters. At the moment, the Society has chapters, centered at Comer Brook and St. John`s and we are affiliated with the Canadian Nature Federation.

museums

Provincial Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador

http://www.nfmuseum.com/naturalhistorycollectionszoology.htm
The Museum`s zoology collections are quite extensive, and representative of the remarkable fauna of the Newfoundland and Labrador region...

reserves

Avalon Wilderness Reserve

http://www.env.gov.nl.ca/parks/wer/r_aw/
The Reserve is located in the centre of the eastern section of the Avalon Peninsula. Its northern boundary is approximately 50 kilometres south of St. John`s...

Baccalieu Island Seabird Ecological Reserve

http://www.env.gov.nl.ca/parks/wer/r_bie/
Baccalieu Island Seabird Ecological Reserve contains Baccalieu Island located off the tip of the north west Avalon Peninsula near the town of Bay de Verde...

Cape St Mary Seabird Sanctuary

http://www.virtual-tours-newfoundland.ca/CapeStMarys/EcoCentre.html
Cape St. Mary`s is a seabird sanctuary with the largest nesting colony of gannets in Newfoundland and the third largest in North America. Also, there are Black-legged Kittiwakes, Atlantic Murres, and Northern Razorbills. There are interpreters on duty to assist any of your needs. The vantage point overlooks magnificent sea stacks and offers an opportunity to photograph the seabirds...

Gros Morne

http://www.grosmorne.com/
This park, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, is an area of great natural beauty with a rich variety of scenery, widlife, and recreational activities. Visitors can hike through wild, uninhabited mountains and camp by the sea. Boat tours bring visitors under the towering cliffs of a freshwater fjord carved out by glaciers. Waterfalls, marine inlets, sea stacks, sandy beaches, and colourful nearby fishing villages complete the phenomenal natural and cultural surroundings of Gros Morne National Park of Canada.

St. George`s Area Bird Sanctuary

http://www.cdli.ca/vsc/stg.html
Mr. Peter St.Croix, a long time Stephenville Crossing resident has taken a keen interest in the well being of the birds in this area. Outlined is a description of some birds that he has sighted in the area, as well as how one can visit and obser ve the birds...

Witless Bay Seabird Ecological Reserve

http://www.explorenewfoundlandandlabrador.com/ecological-reserves/witless-bay.htm
Thousands of seabirds soaring, nesting, feeding ... a cacophony of sound, crashing waves, refreshing ocean breezes, and spectacular scenery ... all this and more is yours to experience at Witless Bay Seabird Ecological Reserve...

trip reports

Travelling Birder
http://www.travellingbirder.com
The Travellingbirder.com birding trip report search engine guides you to 7,000+ birding trip reports on the Internet. You can search for trip reports from a specific country and time of year. Not all these reports are in English. So, if you can’t find the trip report you want on this Fatbirder page… give them a try!

2000 [April] - Paul Jones - Eastern Newfoundland

http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/maybank/Canada/NF-04-2000.htm
I arrived in St. John`s on the evening of April 20 and stayed until April 30. From St. John`s I made several forays around the Avalon Peninsula and up the east coast to Cape Freels, Terra Nova National Park and Bonavista. My hope was to see the trans-Atlantic vagrants, such as European Golden Plover, that sometimes occur in eastern Newfoundland in the last week of April...

2000 [July] - Blake Maybank

http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/maybank/Canada/NF-07-2000.htm
Our Nature Travels Holidays group assembled in the afternoon of July 8, and ate and stayed at the Deer Lake Motel. The weather was typical for Newfoundland, windy and rainy...

2000 [May] - Cheryl Davis - Western Labrador

http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/maybank/Canada/NF-05-2000.htm
At 8:00 a.m. on Saturday May 13, 2000 a group of 8 keen birders got together for a field trip to do a Spring Bird Count for Western Labrador. A total of 44 species were seen plus a hybid. The daytime temperature ranged from 0-7 degrees C with light wind from the E/NE. Unless lakes and streams contained fast moving water they were still frozen over...

2001 [August] - Gavin Edmondstone

http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/maybank/Canada/NF-08-2001.htm
The birding reason for this trip was one bird: Rock Ptarmigan. The ptarmigan was really just an excuse to indulge ourselves with another visit to Newfoundland, our third...

2002 [July] - Frank & Barb Haas

http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/maybank/Canada/NF-07-2002.htm
...started birding on 3 July with a walk around Long Pond in St. Johns. This was only the beginning of our inundation of Savannah Sparrows (the Labrador race, according to Bent) and a bit later Blackpoll Warblers. They were everywhere and neither species seemed to have the habitat restrictions noted in Pennsylvania...

tour operators

Birding Pal

http://www.birdingpal.org/newf.htm
Local birders willing to show visiting birders around their area...

Fieldguides

http://www.fieldguides.com/novascotia.htm
Newfoundland & Nova Scotia - Boreal specialties, seabird colonies & numerous breeding landbirds in the beautiful Canadian Maritimes...

Newfoundland Coastal Safari

http://www.coastalsafari.com
Bald eagles, pelagic seabirds, whales, caribou in the Newfoundland South Coast Wilderness. Safari tent camp, seafood, vegetarian meals, hot showers. coastalsafari@coastalsafari.com

Ventbird

http://www.ventbird.com/db/tour.asp?id=1063
Newfoundland & Nova Scotia with Kim Eckert & Marshall Iliff July 7 - July 17, 2004

Wildlands Tours

http://www.wildlands.com/
Here we still have eagles and osprey soaring in a clear sky. We have places where the land appears to move, but it`s really the backs of the world`s largest caribou herd. Along the coast we have places where whirling seabirds are so plentiful they obscure the sun.

Wings

http://www.wingsbirds.com/tours/view/118
Our primary goal will be to sample the varied birdlife of the island. Our trip list will be relatively small but the number of individuals of many seabirds will be impressive. We`ll visit seabird colonies with vast arrays of gannets, kittiwakes and alcids, and search for the landbirds of the province`s boreal forests, bogs and barrens...

places to stay

Abba Inn - St. John`s

http://www.bbonline.com/can/nf/abba/
[Downtown 4 Star]- 36 Queen`s Road, St. John`s, Newfoundland, Canada - Bed and Breakfast. Nestled safely on elegant Queen`s Road, in well lit area, amongst cathedrals, theaters, fine restaurants, center of St. John`s. Spacious rooms: cordless phones; desks; fax modems; computer; vcrs; CCTV; desks; to fireplaces. Bright washrooms; whirlpool tubs, sofas and spectacular views. Proprietor Leonard Clarke says Any bird info they want they can contact me and I will nail down whatever I can... info@abbainn.com

Bed and Breakfast Listings

http://www.canoe.bbcanada.com/nfl.cfm
Just what it says.

Burgeo Haven B&B

http://www3.nf.sympatico.ca/a.parsons/
Burgeo Haven is a Historic home of former Fish Merchants, situated on the waterfront in a quiet fishing community of Burgeo...

Gower House B&B - St. John`s

http://www.bbonline.com/nf/gower/
180 Gower Street ...Others take one of our many boat tour into the North Atlantic for birdwatching some of Atlantic Canada`s 40 million birds from species such as auks, puffins, murre, gulls, gannets, osprey, and bald eagles...

Lilac Inn Bed & Breakfast

http://www.reach.net/~schurch/
The Lilac Inn Bed & Breakfast, is set in the modern outport of Glovertown, on the north east coast of central Newfoundland. Favorably located within minutes of many beautiful and fun attractions.

Long`s Hills Downtown Suites

http://www.bbcanada.com/longshill69
69 Long`s Hill

Bird Checklist

http://www.bafrenz.com/birds/NFL-S2.htm
More a trip list...

For the birds

http://www.newfoundlandandlabradortourism.com/BirdWatching/Default.aspx
It`s for the murres, the gannets and the black-legged kittiwakes. It`s for the the razorbills, the storm-petrels, and of course the puffins. Our provincial bird. Newfoundland just might be the puffin capital of the world. Thirty kilometres south of St. John`s is the largest Atlantic Puffin colony in North America...

Newfoundland & Labrador Birdwatching

http://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com/BirdWatching/Default.aspx
Have you ever looked up in the sky and wondered, where on earth is that bird going? Is it finishing up a dinner run? Or is it on the very last leg of a transcontinental migration? For years, birders have been coming, with lists in tow, perhaps asking these very questions. Maybe that’s why they call this place the Seabird Capital of North America...

Newfoundland Birding Reports

http://www.web-nat.com/bic/newfound.html
Monthly list of sightings...

Newfoundland Puffins

http://comerfords.e.tripod.com/puffin.html
Newfoundland and Labrador has 95% of North America`s Atlantic Puffins. These colorful birds have been nicknamed parrots of the sea. Puffins nest at Witless Bay and other scattered locations in the province...

Seabirds

http://wordplay.com/tourism/self_guided_tours/birds/
This guide is designed to introduce the seabirds and major colonies of Newfoundland and Labrador. There are at least 311 known seabird breeding sites around the Island of Newfoundland. Most are small with a few dozen or few hundred nesting birds. A few colonies are of world significance and number among the planet`s largest and most easily accessed colonies. The Labrador coast is less studied, but there are over 1000 breeding sites, including the world`s largest razorbill colony.

Yellow-legged Gull

http://www.cs.mun.ca/~dave/ylgu.html
On Feb. 5, 1997 Dave Fifield discovered a Yellow-legged Gull at St. John`s, NF. It was in a small city park pond kept open by water current and several hundred tame waterfowl. Dave recognized the gull as the same individual that had been present in St. John`s Oct. 24 - Dec. 26, 1996. It had been frequenting farm fields on the outskirts of the city until freeze up and snow cover in December forced it to feed elsewhere. Its whereabouts was unknown until it was rediscovered on Feb. 5, 1997. Fortunately Dave was able to obtain photographs of the bird which were far better than any others to date.

artists

Gallery - Newfoundland Birds

http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~randy/birds.html
This page was created as a Demo and includes photographs of Newfoundland Birds. These photographs were supplied by Dave Fifield and Randy Dodge...

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