St John's, Naturally!

Many lakes, referred to as "Ponds" in St. Johns were bounding with wildlife. We spent a few days exploring the nature trails. A "lifer" species, the Pink-footed Goose, was just wandering around a University parking area! (There was a pond across the road.) - It is normally a resident of Iceland, Greenland and western Denmark.

Cape Spear: The most easterly point in North America! The lighthouse is Newfoundland's oldest surviving lighthouse and has served as the chief approach light for St. John's harbour since 1836!

River Otter off the tip of Cape Spear.

Since we were sitting at the eastern edge of the most Easterly point in North America, I feel I can safely say this Savannah Sparrow had the most easterly nest location of its species in North America!!

Waves crashing below Cape Spear.

Colourful houses near Topsail beach.

Threespine Stickleback in a tidal pool off the ocean at Topsail Beach.

Purple Sea Urchin - deceased on Topsail Beach.

Reassembled Lobster at Topsail Beach.

Common Terns: Courtship feeding as a part of the mating ritual.

A successful transfer of food to the mate at Long Lake!

Domestic duck with some of her ducklings in formation!!

American Bittern! First one that I have seen in 2025!

The red glow from the ball made me want to rename this Arctic Tern "Roseate Arctic Tern".

Northern Flicker, alert near the nest!

Osprey with fish being chased by an American Crow!

Pigeons in a tree! (We only see them on man-made structures at home.)

Red Squirrel at a feeding station.

A Mallard Drake made several attempts to grab onto the "bouncing" flower bud growing on a water Lily.

 East Coast Trail, Icebergs and a Sea-eagle!

We drove down the South-East side of the Avalon Peninsula to walk a couple of sections of the East Coast Trail.

The East Coast Trail is 366 km in length, with 270 km following the coast.

One of the first birds we saw on the trail was a Boreal Chickadee. They have brown feathers on the head and on the flanks. Black-capped Chickadees, common in southern Ontario, have black heads. This was a "lifer species" for me!

Green Comma - a common species in Newfoundland.

Hudsonian Whiteface! - a new dragonfly species for me.

After walking down, and back up the wrong trail, we eventually found the 35 metre long LaManche Suspension bridge which spans the LaManche River.

Views from the Suspension Bridge!

Germander Speedwell in a meadow.

An ice cream stop provided a nice snack after our trail hikes and a nearby wetland provided a great spot to see a few more species, including a Greater Yellowlegs!

Northern Pintails, just hanging out!

As we headed further south, we viewed two very large icebergs from the highway. The trees in the foreground help to provide some size perspective. Finding these two was an unexpected surprise!

The following day when we headed to Bonavista, we were hoping to see an iceberg that had been reported a few days earlier. It was much smaller than expected and was breaking into smaller pieces. The boat in the photo had approximately 25 people on it.

The iceberg chunk reminds me of a bird with wings spread!

Glacial chunks washed ashore: Some locals used boats to reach the iceberg and break off pieces. Glacial Water is considered by some to be the purest source of water on earth. However, that topic is up for debate as the melted water isn't necessarily contaminant free.

A Stellar's Sea-eagle has been hanging out in North America for the past 2 years. It was on our wish list to see, but figured the challenge would be like finding a needle in a haystack. Lady luck was on our side, and the Sea-eagle was reported close to an area we planned to visit! A bit of searching down a road, while watching for parked cars helped us find this magnificent bird, normally found in Asia and Russia. When I snapped this picture, it appeared to be having a big yawn! Bald Eagles can weigh up to 14 pounds while the Stellar's Sea-Eagle can weigh up to 20 pounds!

https://www.animalmatchup.com/vs/bald-eagle-vs-steller's-sea-eagle

 Seabirds, Cliffs, and some Whales!

Black Guillemot - There is an iridescent green sheen to the head! We were sitting only 10 feet from this bird. It wasn't until I stood up to readjust on the rocks that we saw it!

Black-legged Kittiwakes were nesting on the cliff edge.

Cabot Tower on the summit of Signal Hill. Signal Hill has long been used for Observation and Communication in the North Atlantic.

Scenic view

A long way down!

Crashing waves below.

The deep, gurgling croak of the Common Raven helped me find this bird, which was partially hidden in the shadows of the rocks. Common Ravens are smart, which makes them dangerous predators. They sometimes work in pairs to raid seabird colonies. One bird will distract an incubating adult and the other grabs the egg or chick as soon as it's uncovered.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Raven/overview

I wasn't expecting to see any whales on this trip but a few Humpback Whales swam far below, past the point on Signal Hill where we were sitting.

Humpback Whales can be tracked acoustically, as they sing the most complex songs of any marine mammal and can be heard from hundreds of kilometers away! These songs are often repeated for hours by males to attract females. (Perhaps the above picture shows a mated pair??)

https://oceana.ca/en/marine-life/humpback-whale/

If it hadn't scurried nearby, I never would have noticed the Boreal Long-lipped Tiger Beetle! It was not a species I was expecting to find on the windy cliffs!

Instead of retracing our steps back to the start of the trek, we chose to continue following the trail. Miscommunication with some other hikers led us much further astray than expected.

The views were amazing! We eventually reached harbour level but our car was parked halfway up Signal Hill! Needless to say, we counted a LOT of steps that day! LOL.

Wild Lupine growing on the trail back to the top.