Gravel pit camping, and birding, in the Codroy Valley

Most of our first two weeks in Newfoundland are unplanned (the story of my life). Natalie and I are quite comfortable traveling light and living in a tent. With our “cow” (Cabin On Wheels), we still have to travel light...just not as light. This is not as easy as it might seem. Imagine getting six months' worth of you life into an old Volkswagen bus. Now add an other adult and a one-year-old baby, two bicycles and a baby jogger, laptops, and a high-chair. Currently, our biggest job is working out systems:

> How does everything get packed in order to expedite packing and unpacking, especially in a torrential rain or when the blackflies/no-see-ums/mosquitoes are out?

> How do we share Anouk care so that we both get time to do our research and write? How do we balance our research and writing time with quality family time?

> What is the best way to approach people? Newfoundlanders are a modest, self-effacing people. Should we tell them upfront about Natalie's project? Should we have more candid conversations, but steer it toward tourism and fisheries? Should we forget the whole project and spend our time in pursuit of that oh-so-delicious Canadian delicacy...the butter tart?

Well, as we ponder these things, we continue working our way toward the St. Johns, the capital of the province.

Next stop, Codroy Valley. We arrived on Friday, the 9th of May and ended up staying for two nights. This early in the season, virtually all campgrounds are closed. Fortunately, here in Newfoundland, there is an activity locally1` known as “gravel-pit camping.” Bear with me....

Everywhere you look, there is water: the province is surrounded by salt water. Ponded waters of every imaginable size abound. The same is true of flowages, from the merest tinkling brook to raging Class V rivers. Meanwhile, the terrestrial landscape is made up of very soggy glacial till and bedrock outcroppings. When you think of a crop associated with Newfoundland, most think potatoes, but that would be in error. Rocks are the biggest crop! So, in order to build roads, you need some good ol' rocks and gravel for the roadbed. As a result, gravel pits abound.

This is a good thing, because Newfoundlanders are a thrifty lot. Why pay to camp when you could simply set up in a vacant gravel pit? We are a thrifty lot, too, us MacSprings! However, there is something to be said for camping in a campground, especially when you are still working the bugs out of a new camping system (a.k.a. the “cow”).

Gravel pits being scarce in this particular region, we were chomping at the bit to stop for the day, so when we found the entrance gate to the former provincial park open, we drove in. The campground owner, Dennis, said they were not open, but if we could live without hot water, we were welcome. We, who have expedition kayaked for five months, were not averse to a dearth of showers. Although it was a far cry from a gravel pit, we opted to stay.

Saturday morning, I walked around the campground with Anouk—bird-watching, of course—while Nat slept. If you have to know, there was not a lot of avian activity, but we did manage to see a Bald Eagle, loads of Yellow-rumped Warblers, a Green-winged Teal, American Robins, Dark-eyed Juncos, Northern Flickers, Canada Geese, Mallard, American Black Duck, Wilson's Snipe, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Black-capped Chickadee, Tennessee Warbler, and a Greater Yellowlegs.

In the course of our outing, we ran into Dennis working to get the campground ready for the upcoming Victoria Day weekend. He said he noticed me watching birds and thought I might be interested to know there were some birders poking about the valley for some birding event or other. He was not a birder, so he did not know much about it except that his wife was involved.

If you are not a birder, you will have to take my word for it when I state that there is some kind of gravitational attraction amongst birders (if you are a birder, you know what I am writing about). In no time flat, we encountered the ring-leader, one Doug Batham, the program manager for Nature Conservancy Canada in Newfoundland. With my tenure at the Adirondack Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, we instantly had a connection. Turns out Nature Conservancy Canada was hosting a bird-a-thon to raise funds for the Wetlands Center, a local educational center at the head of this world-class estuary. Doug invited us to a barbecue that evening.

We spent the day hiking the Wetlands Trail and then circumnavigating the Codroy Valley in the “cow.” I am beginning to think that a calm day in Newfoundland means the winds are blowing something less than a gale. Well, they were something less than a gale this day, but not by much. Although all of this wind kept the bird activity down, we managed to add Wood Duck, Blue-winged Teal, American Wigeon, American Crow, American Goldfinch, Northern Raven, and Northern Harrier to the day's list.

That evening, we showed up at the rental cabins for the barbecue and were warmly welcomed by a flock of birders. We did not want to be rude Americans, so earlier in the day we stopped at a variety store to pick up a contribution. There is not a lot of choices in a variety store. Granted, they do have a sample of everything, from basic foodstuffs to replacement elements for you stove. In the end, we purchased hotdogs and buns. We needn't have worried since Doug had dozens of thick, juicy steaks cooking on the grill.

As we were introduced to everyone, I noticed a peculiar trend: nearly all worked in the provincial government as biologists and nearly all were from away, places like Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Nova Scotia, Quebec. Of the dozens there, I only met three native Newfoundlanders.

As our evening wound down, I was pleased to be able to contribute Wood Duck and Tennessee Warbler to their daily tally and help them crack the 80 species mark for their bird-a-thon.