Venture to Newfoundland
Puffins, Boreal Birds & Spectacular Scenery
September 4-14, 2024
Your place on this Venture is reserved with your completed registration and deposit of $700/person are submitted. Deposit may be made via the ‘book now’ button above, or by contacting the Ventures office. We accept credit cards for an additional fee (2.9% for MC, Visa, Discover; 3.9% for AmEx), but you may also pay by bank transfer via our website. If paying by cash, check, or money order (payable to ‘VENTURES BIRDING’), please mail in your payment with a paper registration form to PO Box 1095, Skyland, NC 28776, or contact our office. This Venture is limited to 10 participants.
Cost of Newfoundland Venture $3,995 per person from St John’s based on double occupancy (Single supplement $725) Price includes: Van transportation to and from St John’s, accommodation, meals, boat trips, admission fees, information packet & bird checklist, and guide/leader service Not included: Airfare to and from St John’s, alcoholic beverages, and items of a personal nature.
The Canadian Maritime province of Newfoundland offers rich maritime culture, spectacular scenery, and a bounty and beauty of birds and other wildlife. The cool coastal climate blends the Acadian, boreal and taiga habitats to produce a special mix of temperate and northern species unique in Canada. Sweeping vistas, rocky seacliffs, hidden fjords and boreal forests offer a rich selection of birdlife from Atlantic Puffin and Black-legged Kittiwake to Mourning and Blackpoll Warblers; all of which we hope to see on this 10-day Venture to this fascinating part of Canada.
Our comprehensive tour of this stunning island begins in St. John’s, one of North America’s oldest cities. In addition to sightseeing around the town with its stately churches, fascinating museums, and its beautiful harbor and lighthouse, we will enjoy a boat ride out to Gull Island in Witless Bay, famed for its hordes of nesting seabirds. We stand a good chance of encountering marine mammals from the boat as well, with the rich waters regularly attracting Humpback Whales. We then explore the southern shores of Newfoundland and the Avalon Peninsula, where we should see Arctic Tern, Short-eared Owl, Willow Ptarmigan, and any assortment of migratory shorebirds. The massive colony of Northern Gannets and Common & Thick-billed Murres at Cape St. Mary’s, will be an additional highlight. Turning north, we will visit both Terra Nova and Gros Morne National Parks, where we hope to find White-winged Crossbill, Spruce Grouse, Rock Ptarmigan, Black-backed & Three-toed Woodpeckers, and perhaps black bear and moose! We reach our northernmost part of the tour at St. Anthony, where we will enjoy another boat tour looking for humpbacks, orcas, and seabirds in the aptly named ‘whale & iceberg alley.’ Our tour wraps up with several leisurely days spent birding and sightseeing our way back south to St. John’s.
What birds can we hope to see?
Rock & Willow Ptarmigans, Spruce Grouse, Three-toed & Black-backed Woodpeckers, Boreal Chickadee, Canada Jay, Atlantic Puffin, Black Guillemot, Razorbill, Arctic Tern, Wilson’s and Leach’s Storm-Petrels, Manx Shearwater, Black-legged Kittiwake, Common Loon, Common Eider, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Mourning, Magnolia, Bay-breasted & Blackpoll Warblers, Nelson’s Sparrow and many, many more!