Monday we took the ferry back to Nova Scotia and did a sea watch for about 5 of the 7 hours. It was a beautiful day but we did not see many birds for the first few hours.

We took a break and ate half of the subs we had bought before boarding and then headed back out. There was a bit more activity since we were around the half-way point. Jerry got on a bird at the back of the boat and we both noted it was different from what we had been seeing – not a gannet, not a gull but bigger than puffin, longer wings grey upper, white below. Jerry managed a few shots and we knew we would have to look at it later. Both of us were thinking it could be the Northern Fulmar we were hoping for but we also didn’t want to get our hopes up. We birded until we were close to shore and then headed in to finish those subs. We had a 1.5 hour drive to our hotel and then we started the tedious task of looking at pictures. Jerry had one fairly good picture that looked like a Fulmar to us based on ebird pics but we sent it off to the Discord ID chat just to make sure – YES! Northern Fulmar it was – Lifer and bird #420!!!! What a great end to our trip to the Rock! All that water and that one bird we still needed found its way to the back of the ferry as we were standing there.

Tuesday we were up early to head for our last province, PEI. We had booked the 10am ferry over so we did not need to rush but ended up arriving at 8:30 and the 8:00 ferry was still there just ready to leave. We drove right on and just like that gained 1.5 hours for our day in PEI.

We decided to bird Victoria Park in Charlottetown since we had extra time. After a little rain shower it was very birdy and we enjoyed trying to get our bins on all the warblers flitting around the shrubs and trees. After so much sea watching it was a nice change to see colour and leaves.

Our next stop was for lunch. Way back before Covid we spent a week on PEI with our daughter and family and we had fresh seafood every day from Gallants in Stanley Bridge. They are not there anymore but instead have a restaurant in Charlottetown. We stopped in and had their absolutely fantastic all crabmeat crabcakes, seafood chowder and haddock caught that morning. It was super yummy and a perfect last seafood meal on this trip.

After lunch we headed to the north of PEI to track down a Gray Partridge. We saw this species out in Saskatchewan but didn’t manage a picture so we were hoping for better views and pictures. We checked out the first place they had been seen recently but no luck. We moved on to another place but just before we got there Jerry spotted something in a field and sure enough there were10 Gray Partridge feeding at the edge of a field. He took some nice pictures and I did a quick video before they rushed off.

We left PEI 5 hours after we arrived having seen 37 species of birds on 5 checklists and so we have now birded every province in Canada this year. While driving today the conversation started turning to “what we need to do” when we get home. It is inevitable that my mind moves from the task at hand as this trip ends and I start thinking of what lies ahead in Ontario. A Crested Caracara is still up north, we need some boreal species yet. That Black Vulture still needs to be seen. We have one more birding day tomorrow and then I can start the plans for the rest of the year.

Wednesday we headed into Quebec and drove through a “corridor of colour”. The fall colours were close to peak and I could not help but snap picture after picture of the trees along the road.

We added 5 more moose to our count but unfortunately they were all dead in the backs of trucks and open trailers. The hunting season is in full swing in New Brunswick too. At one point I had to drive behind a trailer with a quartered moose in the back for about 15 kms. We arrived in Trois-Pistoles so that we could take one last ferry back and forth across the St.Lawrence River for one more crack at some missing species. We still need Parasitic, Long-tailed Jaeger and Sabine’s Gull and this ferry seemed to be getting them on a regular basis. Unfortunately, when we showed up at the ferry dock it was in thick fog despite beautiful blue sky two blocks away. We discussed what we should do, went in and made our reservations thinking maybe things would clear up as there was still two hours before the sailing. We discussed things more. There was a Black-tailed Gull that has been seen over the last week just outside Quebec City and we knew that it was a bird usually seen at the end of the day on the river so we would not be able to get it unless we spent an extra day in Quebec. If we didn’t do the ferry we could go for the Gull. The 3 birds we hoped for on the ferry we can still possibly get at lake watches in Hamilton. We opted to cancel the ferry trip and move on to the Black-tailed Gull spot. We arrived there at 3 and set up our last stake-out of the trip.

We waited almost 3 hours and no gull. Sigh, it would have been a nice finish to the trip but the Northern Fulmar was also a nice ending to the trip. We headed to our last hotel of the trip and were asleep by 10 pm. We head home with 420 species with three more months of birding to increase that number. We missed seeing 6 species and we added 5 lifers on this trip. We drove 9,595 kms this trip and arrived home Thursday by 2:30 because we were awake at 5am and on the road by 5:30.

It was lovely to have a good cup of tea and enjoy the view from my window Friday morning. No birding. We visited Babi, did laundry, cleaning and caught up with friends and family. There is a Crested Caracara 8 hours away to consider chasing but not happening this weekend. We have kids and grandkids to see…

Week 39 1 species added #419 ebird #420 my list E&J