About lunch time, we arrived at the Codroy Valley Wetlands Centre. They are situated above the estuary and have a trail that parallels the wetlands. After lunch, it was time to try the trail. It is mostly wooded with side trails out to the water views. At first, it was quiet, but we soon started seeing birds both along the trail and on the water.
One of the first was an unidentifiable small duckling who was all alone. It must have gotten separated from the rest of its brood and we accidentally flushed it from the grases along the marsh. It took off paddling furiously as it swam several hundred yards to the other side of the marsh. Shorly after that we saw both a Belted Kingfisher and Common Tern, except I was looking at the tern and Ellen was tracking the kingfisher. There were a couple of “It’s a tern—no it’s a kingfisher” exchanges before we realized we were looking a completely different birds.
Along the trail, we saw a mixture of sparrows and warblers, as well as the inevitable robins. On the water we could see ducks in the distance, but aside from a few closer American Black Ducks and Green-winged Teal, we couldn’t definitely identify them, but they were most likely more of the same.
One other interesting observation was a male American Goldfinch who spent at least 15 minutes swooping back and forth singing. He would fly over and then get far way enough that he couldn’t be seen, but still heard, and then come back and go off in a different direction and do it again.
After walking the trail, we stopped in at the Wetlands Centre and scoped out the estuary below, but only a couple of teal and black ducks could be seen.
Finished with this hotspot, it was off to the JT Cheeseman Provincial Park. It was our second visit as it is the park we stayed at on arriving in Newfoundland. We were only able to reserve a powered site for Friday night, and an unpowered one on Saturday night. We pulled in, plugged in and went off for well-needed showers. It has been unusually warm in Newfoundland this past month.
Another 2005 Sprinter van pulled into the site next to us. It was the same model as Speedy, but painted green witn a mural on each side and an orange smiley face on the hood. Named Julius the Van, it was from California and was renovated into a camper by two young guys....#vanlifers?
Today we drove back to the Codroy Valley to try a series of recommended hotspots. It was a nice day, sunny and breezy, but there wasn’t much to be seen at the five spots we visited, mostly gulls and terns, but we did spot a single Black-bellied Plover along the shore.
We were back at the campground in time for lunch and had the chance to switch to a powered site due to a cancellation. As the weather has been unusually warm, we’ve stayed in powered sites more than we would normally do since the refrigerator still doesn’t maintain a low temperature on propane. This is at the top of our fix list when we get home.
After lunch it we went into Port aux Basques to find a laundromat. It turns out that the only one in town is inside a convenience store. It was two washers and dryers tucked into a back corner of the store right next to the aisles of food and coolers of beer. A most unusual situation, but it was the only choice. After starting our laundry, we went for a walk around downtown Port aux Basques as there wasn‘t really anywhere to wait while the machines were running.
As we walked along, we could see a big cloud of black smoke frome the next street over, down by the waterfront. Seeing a crowd, we went over to find a small powerboat, up in a grassy lot, fully engulfed in flames. Nothing like a burning fiberglass hull to generate lots of black smoke. As we watched, the local volunteer fire company arrived and quickly doused it. Judging by the crowd watching, it was the most interesting event of the day.
After the laundry was done, it was off to the local market for food and wine for our last night in Newfoundland. We had also thought about bringing back a bottle of Screech Rum, the local brand, but it turns out that it isn’t actually made in Newfoundland, but only bottled here...ahh, marketing.
It was back to camp for a good meat and potatoes dinner. We had the last of the food we brought with us, a couple of nice strip steaks, grilled on our new cast iron grill plate, with new potatoes and salad.
Tomorrow, we’ll be on the midday ferry back to Nova Scotia.
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