On our early return from St. Pierre et Miquelon we ran into a couple on the ferry who told us about a wonderful experience they had viewing puffins. It was a little off the beaten path, but they assured us it would be wonderful. We had booked into the Whale Watcher B&B a day early and the puffins were about a 3.5 hour drive from Witless Bay. It was a hot day, so we decided to take a chance and drive to Elliston and see how closely we could get to the puffins.
Elliston is a tiny place near Bonavista. They are the root cellar capital of the world! In addition to some cool root cellars, they have the best puffin viewing in Newfoundland! About 300 pairs of puffins nest on tiny Bird Island. They puffins delight visitors by popping over to hang out with them on the nearby cliffs. We sat 10 to 15 feet from these gorgeous wee birds. The photography opportunities were incredible. Sitting so close to such comical and beautiful creatures was an incredible experience. We were very, very lucky. I was very, very lucky actually. If I'd dragged the family 3.5 hours there and another 3.5 hours back for nothing I'd have never been allowed to live it down!! ;)
Overall, we have been blessed with the amount of wildlife we have seen. In addition to puffins and of course, the moose, we have seen humpback whales, minke whales, dolphins, a snowshoe hare (summer phase, which means brown), a host of sea birds, interesting plant life, songbirds... it has been an education figuring out what they all are and marveling over how lucky we are to be in a place where such beautiful and diverse features thrive.
What fabulous photos Jacqui!!
ReplyDeleteyou're capturing some wonderful shots & memories with your new camera!!
yes, it's a good thing you did get to see these cute little guys!! As the saying goes, 'it was worth the drive to Elliston'! :-)