Our morning walk was two miles out, two miles back along a wide path that led across flat, boggy terrain.
Our destination is Western Brook “Pond”, the largest lake in the park.
This is the most popular walk in Gros Morne National Park.
By far the most thrilling part of the short hike was spotting a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher!
We got to the little visitor center just in time for our two-hour boat excursion.
Western Brook Pond is a fjord that was cut off from the ocean and eventually filled in with fresh water.
The cliffs are made up of Gneiss with occasional intrusions of basalt and quartzite.
We let off 8 backpackers here at the far end of the fjord. There’s no established trail; they had 20 miles of route-finding ahead of them!
Once we finished the boat ride, we were able to make our way back to the bus at our own pace, so I could stop all I wanted to take more bird photos.
Our afternoon hike was 3.5 mile around Cow Head Peninsula.
Our first forest hike!
This is “Big Hill.” Our bus driver grew up nearby and would come up here on Sunday afternoons to play while his family had a picnic.
From the top of Big Hill we had a nice view of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
And, incredibly, this PINE GROSBEAK landed right near us!!!
Back down through the woods, single file.
The little lighthouse was in use until 1979.
The coastline at Cow Head is limestone conglomerates with a lot of shale–it was quite sharp to the touch.
This was the first hike that actually FELT like a “real” hike.
We asked our guide Ian about all the really colorful houses.
He said the Newfoundland custom is: Whatever paint is cheapest.
Back at the hotel someone told me they had seen hummingbirds at a nearby church’s garden. I didn’t find any there, but the butterflies were busy.
And so were the Common Terns!
My.Bird.Walks. 