Bonus bird blogging

Another puffin. I got better pictures of some of the other birds, but I can't resist those little clown faces.

Sunday bird blogging

A puffin in the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve.

We drove up the coast from St. John's to Port Union yesterday, stopping for a cruise in Witless Bay. We didn't see any whales, but there were thousands of seabirds, including these adorable creatures.  It was overcast and the boat was bouncing around so my pictures aren't that sharp but I think the cuteness shines through.

Another view from Signal Hill

From a slightly different angle, you can't even tell that there's a harbor there.

Unfortunately we didn't get much sun today -- a forecast of partly sunny in Newfoundland apparently means that a few square inches of blue will occasionally poke through what is otherwise an uninterrupted expanse of gray. But at least it wasn't raining.

The Narrows

Here's another view of the entrance to St. John's harbor taken from Signal Hill today. You can see why it's called the Narrows. 

Greetings from St. John's, Take 2

The entrance to St. John's harbor, seen in evening light yesterday.

I resolved my technical issues, and there will be photos when time and wi-fi allow. Tonight the wi-fi is barely two bars, and after two long bus rides across parts of St. John's tourists rarely see, I'm also pretty feeble. I did not expect that the highlight of my first day in Newfoundland would be a Best Buy.

Greetings from St. John's

I'm in Newfoundland -- or am I?

You'll have to take my word for it, as there won't be any photographic evidence, at least for today, possibly not until I get back to New York.

I'd been congratulating myself on how smoothly this trip had gone so far -- how clever I'd been to fly to Montreal last night and stay in the hotel in the terminal before continuing on to St. John's today, how I'd managed to pack enough clothes for a two and a half week trip into a carry-on sized suitcase. So of course it turns out I managed to forget one tiny but critical piece of equipment -- the adaptor that connects the USB ports on my Mac to the USB plugs on every other electronic device. (Because of course the newer Macs aren't compatible with the rest of the world; even my iPhone needs the adaptor to connect to my laptop.)

I'll try to find an adaptor here tomorrow. If I can't, photo posting will be limited to phone pictures until I'm back home.

Astronomy Tuesday

When galaxies collide! These two galaxies, collectively known as Arp 87, will eventually, in a few billion years or so, merge into one.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team (STScI, AURA)

More of the Gardens

Meanwhile, back in Victoria

And, finally, circling back to the beginning of my recent Canadian adventure before starting the next one -- here are some more pictures from Butchart Gardens in Victoria.

Bonus bird blogging

A young loon being fed in Lake Beauvert.

This youngster, like Heather, actually had two mommies; our guide said probably one of them lost her baby, so she was co-parenting. While one adult was diving for food, the other was feeding the baby. By the time one Mama was done feeding and ready to dive for the next course, the other would be back with food, so the youngster barely had time to breathe between mouthfuls. I didn't have any basis for comparison, but I'm guessing that this was the fattest juvenile loon in Canada.

Sunday bird blogging

A gray jay, also called a Canada jay, caught mid-hop near Maligne Lake in Jasper.

Saturday reflections

Another photo of the submerged tree in Lake Beauvert, this time with tree and sky reflections.