Newfoundland or Bust!

We got "bust."

So, as I continue to discover, a Big Year is not always about being in amazing birding locations, it is actually, more often than not, trying to get to said locations.  I am writing from about 10,000 feet above Halifax, Nova Scotia, rather than St. Johns Newfoundland, where we were actually headed.

Now, I am sure the birding is fine Halifax, and there is a 14 hour ferry boat over to Newfoundland, on which a large variety of Pelagic birds can be seen. In fact, I read just yesterday in Sandy Komito's chronicle of his 1998 Big Year, how he took that very trip.

Breaking news!

We are not going to Halifax after all, as they are not equipped to get us on our way to St Johns. Instead we are detouring to Montreal! How lucky for me. A Little Egret was reported to NARBA in the Montreal area, just yesterday. This could be good news after all. If we are forced to stay overnight we will go for the egret this evening or early tomorrow morning, and then catch our flight to Newfoundland and perhaps even arrive in time for lunch.

Or, the captain will come on the intercom just before we land and alert us that we are making an about turn and heading to Quebec City for Summer Carnivale!

Perhaps I should have taken the window seat and looked for sea birds in flight, as that, right now, at 6:17pm on Friday July 13, ahm, July 6,(wouldn't have been cool had it been Friday the 13th), would have been my best chance of seeing any birds today.

And now it's dark and we are just arriving at a Holiday Inn for the night and the flight tomorrow is too early to chase the possible Little Egret. Not worth staying a full day here without it having been confirmed. Who knows, it might have taken off and is headed right to St Johns.

Who knows? Right now we need dinner and sleep as we have a very early shuttle to the airport in the morning. Turns out the 6am shuttle is full so we have to leave at 5:25 for a 8:10 flight. So we won't even get into St Johns until noon tomorrow

Good night ;)