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Canada - Grand Manan
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Join us for an early autumn bird and whale spectacular on Canada's eastern seaboard - shorebirds and warblers on migration, excellent seabird possibilities, and probably the best time for whale watching.New Brunswick's Bay of Fundy is one of the marine wonders of the world, an amazing eco-system powered by the highest tides in the world... if you walk across the tidal zone at low tide, just six hours later your footprints will be covered by a wall of water over ten metres deep. Charging through submarine canyons, Fundy's mighty currents create cold-water upwellings resulting in an abundance of food for marine life and producing one of the greatest - and most accessible - concentrations of whales and seabirds in the North Atlantic. Fin, Minke, Humpback and the extremely rare Northern Right Whale congregate here in August to feed their young, play and mate. During our stay, we'll enjoy two special boat trips out into the bay in search of whales and seabirds. Harbour Porpoises may be seen as we head out to sea and the likes of Grey and Red-necked Phalaropes, Puffins, Arctic and Pomarine Skuas are all regularly observed. We should be rewarded with close views of the various whales feeding and sometimes even breaching, and we'll look for seabirds such as Great and Sooty Shearwaters and tiny, pattering Wilson's Storm-petrels. Our encounters with these sprites of the sea were breathtaking on our last trip. The intertidal zone is equally rich in life, attracting thousands of shorebirds on migration. The main migration of Semipalmated Sandpipers takes place in August, when these tiny waders can sometimes be present in vast congregations. Least and White-rumped Sandpipers, Semipalmated Plovers, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs should also be seen. The forests, reminiscent of the Canadian North, can be full of warblers and other songbirds fattening up on insect food before beginning their arduous trek southwards. The geology is also very varied. Rock cliffs reveal evidence of life from Precambrian times to the last ice age. Fossils are constantly being exposed by the bay's relentless tides. Just a few short miles from the bay is the Northumberland Strait, a shallow body of much warmer water. This is the Acadian Coast, where miles of sandy beaches and warm shallow lagoons replace the wild Bay of Fundy, and English is replaced by French as the first language. With direct flights to Halifax available, this can be seen as a long-haul trip with a short-haul flight time of less than five hours. |
Price: £ 2,995
The price is per person and includes scheduled return flights London - Halifax*, airport taxes, ground transportation, ferries, accommodation on a full-board basis, local taxes, tips, and the services of the leaders.
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Click here for a full, printable itinerary |
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