Puffins! Dungeons! Root Cellars! 7/28-29/10

The Atlantic Puffin, also known as the common Puffin, is a species of seabird in the Auk family. It's the only puffin native to the Atlantic Ocean. Lucky us to be at this Puffin colony!

 

 

Binocs in hand, we're watching puffins (et al) at Elliston and Cape Bonavista.

 

 

Both ground and air were alive with these little birds milling around and flitting about.

Puffins aplenty! Black guillemots, Common Murres, Terns, Kittiwakes, and Gulls! Thousands and thousands of seabirds! First at Elliston and then at Cape Bonavista -- we were a stone’s throw from their breeding islands. The puffins fly like a wind-up toy, and were the most fun to see.  They're cute, but not graceful!

Puffin nests are burrows in the ground, and we’re told the chicks aren’t seen till they've fledged (at night) … to keep the gulls, who strategically place themselves nearby, from “free dinner!” As waves crashed on the rocks below and whales spouted further out, the skies around the islands teemed with birds. Of course, gulls were the noisiest of the lot. We loved sitting on the rocks and watching ....

 

Howz this for a claim-to-fame: Elliston -- "The Root Cellar Capital of the World”?  We investigated and, sure enough, Elliston has lots of ‘em – the oldest documented root cellar was built in 1839. We actually went inside one! Tours are even offered.  Fascinating.

Finally, at dusk, after a long, full day, we drove just south of Cape Bonavista to what's called The Dungeon – a very unusual rock formation – a twin-entranced sea cave with a collapsed roof which has been carved into the cliff face by the sea. It’s huge and sort of scary. I thought it looked like a giant’s uvula!!  Entering the sea cave might have been fun in a kayak, but not for us today.  Our day was wonderful as is!