Day 11, Common Murres & Razorbills

What happened as soon as we turned around to head back to Tadoussac? The sun came out and the sky turned blue - of course! That would have helped greatly with all the previous, low-light shots.

Ha, you will no doubt be very relieved to hear that I have no more photos of Common Murres and Razorbills standing on the rocks at Brandy Pot Islands! Have to admit that I suspect I am even more relieved than you are - that was almost a "chore" editing so many detailed images. Those are once-in-a-lifetime sightings for me, so I wanted to make sure I kept any remotely OK shots in my albums. Maybe another 25 or so photos to edit and then that will be Day 11 finished and I will be able to start on Day 12, our final day in Quebec, before flying back to Calgary early the next morning. Day 12 will have photos of some 50,000 Snow Geese seen along the drive back to Quebec City. We also got the chance to photograph a handful of barns, which was much enjoyed. I have a deadline for getting all these finished, and it looks like I am going to meet my deadline after all.

"Offshore from Riviére-du-Loup and part of the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park, the Pot a l’Eau-de-Vieu Archipelago consists of three small islands which link up at low tide: Gros Pot (Big Pot), Petit Pot (Small Pot), and Pot du Phare (Lighthouse Pot). The name of the archipelago came about during French rule when sailors likened the reddish-brown rainwater collected in pockets on the rocky islands to brandy, and the shape of those pockets to brandy pots. Legend also suggests that Prohibition bootleggers hid alcohol in an area on the north shore of Gros Pot, hidden from view, now called “le trou de la contrebande” (the contraband hole-in-the-wall)."

lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=1592

This was an exciting day for us, with a trip to the middle of the St. Lawrence River to see Razorbills and Common Murres on the Brandy Pot Islands. It was breeding season and people are not allowed to set foot on the islands, so we sat in our tiny boat, named Juno, ate our picnic lunch and watched in awe at the cliffs that were covered in these two bird species. To be honest, I don't think I had ever heard of either species - my friends are far more knowledgeable than I am.

Our day started early and, unfortunately, the skies were black and it was raining. Not exactly the kind of weather one wants to be on a tiny boat in the middle of a huge body of water! Definitely not ideal photography weather, either. I think it was around half way through the trip that the sky brightened up. I think we were out for about six hours and travelled 50 km.

When I say that we were all so cold on this boat ride, I mean we were absolutely FROZEN, despite several layers of jackets, toque, gloves, etc.. The sight of thousands and thousands of birds in the air, on the water, and covering Brandy Pot Island helped a bit to take our minds off the cold. We saw all these black and white birds, that looked remarkably like Penguins, and we assumed we were looking at Razorbills. That is what the pilot of this tiny boat had told us about and he offered to take us out to the islands to see them. It was only later that we began to realize that not all the black and white birds looked the same, ha! They are very similar, but take a look at their beaks/bills and you will see a big difference. Actually, there were a lot more Common Murres than Razorbills, but it was great to see both species. Along with these birds were Double-crested Cormorants, some of which were sitting in their nests high up in the trees. Another bird that was new to me was the Black-legged Kittiwake - nesting time for them on the rocks, too.

Once we were back home, a bit later in the afternoon we went on a short, local walk to see what birds were out and about. In the evening, we had to pack our bags and make sure that the house was going to be left in good condition. By around 8:30 am the next morning, we were down at the ferry, to start out our long drive down the coast to Quebec City.

It felt sad to leave Tadoussac. Our friend, Anne B, gave us an absolutely wonderful week, staying in her summer 'cabin', taking us to see so many places and things, leaving us with endless amazing memories. What a week it was!