More BIRDS!

2010.08.16

Before breaking camp at Chance Cove PP, through binoculars, I got to see several seals feeding in the water. Too far away for pictures.

We stopped at the visitor center in Portugal Cove South. (No relation to the Portugal Cove that is North of St. John's.) There we learned about the Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve. It has the largest deposit of fossils in the world that date back 565 million years. The deposits are being weathered by the sea, rain, wind and sun and the paleontologists are trying hard to preserve it by making castings of the fossils. Charles Darwin tried in vain to find such fossils.

Mistaken Point got its name because mariners often mistook its identity and ran their ships aground in Trepassy Bay. Over the years, more than 2000 people have lost their lives over such navigational errors.

We then drove around St. Mary's Bay down to Cape St. Mary and the Ecological Reserve there. Cape St. Mary is one of few places where gannets, large sea birds, nest and breed. The wing span of the larger ones are about 6 feet. In flight, they are a most graceful bird. It was an incredible sight to see how they just covered the near by cliffs.

For overnight, we settled near the water used for the Regatta near Placentia, NL. Free camping is a good thing! :)