As the saying goes, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. That was the case for me one day in Newfoundland. After a few more days of unpleasant weather, and some long stretches of riding where the potential birds that would be of interest to me were the type that are difficult to observe while cycling, I had little to show for my recent efforts.

In fact, the only new bird I found during that time was the Northern Goshawk shown below. It’s a great bird, to be sure, and it takes the prize for the first new Raptor of the Tour, however, its observed state of an intermediate molt between juvenile and adult plumage made it tougher for me to identify.

Then I was affected by a day of especially fierce headwinds, which knocked me a day behind my intended schedule. The result of that was that the day I spent hiking and birding in Gros Morne National Park turned out to be the only day in weeks that was sunny and relatively warm for the entire day, a rare case when the best weather coincided with a planned visit to an outdoor site. So, I made a concerted effort to take advantage of that good fortune. I was not expecting to find any really spectacular birds, but I hoped that I would turn up a few interesting varieties.

In fact, I found five Life Birds that day, which was the best single day of the Tour so far. A really good birder, in a place like the neotropics, could best that count ten or twenty times over, but I can’t complain, given the fairly small number of possibilities in the area I was currently traveling. I began in the forested area surrounding the park visitor center, which was a very nice area, thanks to numerous ski trails that were unused that time of the year, and, therefore, devoid of other people. The first bird that turned up was this Yellow-bellied Flycatcher…

…and then a Northern Waterthrush made an appearance in a rather unusual place for that species , high up in the canopy.

Next came a bird that I didn’t want to miss again, after doing just that on the few other occasions I had been in its home range, a Boreal Chickadee.

Then I went to the James Callahan Trail, at the base of Gros Morne Mountain, a location that is one of the area’s most productive hotspots. At first I thought that I would see nothing there, as the forest seemed much quieter than the area I had just left. Eventually, however, as I was on my way back down, I fixed my eyes on something vaguely bird-shaped in a nearby tree, and was very pleased that it turned out to be a Magnolia Warbler.

I also briefly saw a Black-Throated Green Warbler, but it was totally uncooperative, and I was preparing myself for another no photo obtained sighting. Then, just as I neared the end of the trail, another appeared, and sat still just long enough for this photo, as if to say, OK, this is all you will get.

I could really do with a few more Five-Bird Days, but the number of potential candidates for me to see during the next two weeks is not very large. So, I will likely need to be patient, as usual.