June 28 Sunday 2009 Perce Quebec
Out of luck still foggy at least it is not raining. We board 1 of 3 boats heading to Bonaventure Island and the gannet colony also Perce rock. Perce rock first -a 5m ton slab of turfed topped limestone with a hole in it. Erosion pierced a hole as the name implies, a hole big enough to drive the boat through if it were not for falling debris. Off the mainland of Perece the French explorer Jacque Cartier anchored 3 ships in 1534 to claim the region for France. The boat slowly circles the island shrouded in fog. We arrive at Bonaventure Island and it too is vialed in fog. We circle it too and gawk at the sheer vertical cliff. We see the sea and grassy knoll far above us. The face of the cliff is covered with thousands of different birds nesting. We disembark and buy our $3.50 park pass to walk the 1.4 miles through the woods to the other side of the island to reach the nesting grounds of 124,000 birds. The woods open up and we smell and hear them before we see them. We can get within 6 ft of them. We are mesmerized by the sight and behaviour of the birds. We see it all- the courtship, the defending of territory, yes the sex. We see a single egg or baby under the female when she lifts herself up to turn around . We see males dive bomb down some offering gifts. They are noisy little buggers always squawking about something. Have you ever seen 124,000 of anything all in one spot? What a sight. ( Gannets are striking white seabirds with yellow necks and blue eyes outlined in Egyptian-style markings). Bill only makes it part way and we meet again in the restaurant in the entrance. Our re
turn trip is only 1 hr. We get home pleasantly tired. Couldn't even go to the interpretive center. Too tired. Bill fuels up before returning to the RV park. We get ready to leave tomorrow to Caraquet New Brunswick. On hwy 11
REMEMBER_One should eat to live not live to eat.