Birds and Wildlife Canada/New England Sept./Oct. 2007

[QueensChick]

Hello everyone,

 

I'm posting a question for a fellow cruiser on our roll call. Her dear hubby is especially interested in birds and other wildlife, and she is wondering what we can expect to see on this cruise.

We'll be visiting Newport, RI, Boston, MA, Bar Harbor, ME, Halifax, Nova Scotia and Quebec City.

 

Can anyone help us with any info? Thank you in advance for any help. :)

[whale-watcher]

We took a Canada/NE cruise in September of '05 -- round trip out of Boston, with stops in Halifax, Saint John, Bar Harbor, and Portland.

 

The big highlight for me, not surprisingly, was the large number of whales...I saw fin whales from the cruise ship every day, and quite a few humpbacks just outside of Boston and along the coast of Maine (including several breaching individuals). Additionally, we saw large numbers of dolphins, harbor porpoise, and pilot whales near Halifax. It sounds like your cruise might include the Sauganey river, so you have a good chance of spotting Beluga whales, and possibly even blue whales in the St Lawrence river (I would love to be onboard!!!)

 

As for birds, we saw quite a few shearwaters and storm petrels, as well as Jeagers and phalaropes while we were at sea. We also saw lots of migrating land birds and shorebirds on land... especially in Acadia National Park and at the Irving Nature Park in Saint John. Our last sea day had a lot of morning fog, and a large number of migrating birds were hiding out on the ship itself.

 

We did not see any moose or other large mammals on shore, but we stayed close to the coast in every port.

 

We did take a whale watching excursion in Bar Harbor, and although it was on a huge boat, we did encounter a very cooperative pair of humpbacks; we also took a boat trip in Halifax (one that went to Peggy's Cove), and had up close looks at many dophins and harbor porpoise.

 

Make sure you bring some good binoculars along, and lots of warm clothing so you can spend time on deck scanning...I thought it was a great cruise, and your itinerary should be even better, with whales in the Saint Lawrence river plus a visit to Quebec city.

[mii]

We were also on a Canada/New England cruise last Oct. and one thing you can check is the ship excursions. Sometimes there are ones that are strickly for bird watching. Also as the above poster said doing a tour of Acadia National Park in Bar harbor we saw lots of different birds. But check out the shore excursions. Also do a Google search and maybe put in birds- then whatever stops you make. That is all I can think of now.

 

Marilyn

[PABirder]

The whale-watch out of Bar Harbor (independent of the cruise) has a puffin tour also. I was on it 2 years ago and we saw humback whales, puffins, and guillemots. The numbers where low though because of the fog. It may also be possible to see razorbills, too.

[Terpnut]

How is the whale watching in late July or early August? What is the prime season for whale watching for most of New England? TIA.

[whale-watcher]

How is the whale watching in late July or early August? What is the prime season for whale watching for most of New England? TIA.

Should be wonderful...prime season is spring through fall.

[PABirder]

The whale watch I was on out of Bar Harbor was in early August. Although it was pea soup, still saw shearwaters, black guillemots, humpbacks, and puffins.