Just back from a three week cruise, sailing from Southampton to Quebec City and back. We also called at St Johns in Newfoundland, Gaspé in Quebec, Havre St Pierre in Quebec, La Baie down the Saguenay Fjord in Quebec, Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island, Halifax in Nova Scotia and finally Sydney in Nova Scotia.

The weather crossing the North Atlantic was changeable to say the least. On the outward journey, once past the continental shelf, it clouded over, the seas got rough and it rained with winds, at times, at Force 10. The decks were closed for most of the time and little birding was done. Coming home, it was just the opposite with, generally, calm weather, calm seas, light winds and temperatures as high as 17*c. However, it changed on our last day at sea (18 October) when it was cloudy with a lot of rain. This was approaching Scilly, one of the best sea watching spots of the whole trip.

The Scilly area, on the way out, was very good with Manx Shearwater, Corys Shearwater and up to 65 Great Shearwater. A few Kittiwake, the usual plentiful Gannet and a Great Skua. I was interested to see what birds would be seen, way out in mid ocean. Not many, to be honest other than a few Gannet and say c.40 Fulmar. Good to see them going about their business, though, seemingly carefree hundreds and hundreds of miles away from land. As we headed towards Canada, but still several hundred miles east of Newfoundland, an adult Pomarine Skua was sighted. Shortly after, and on the same line, heading in the same direction, another skua, probably another Pomarine. Another 3 Bonxies would be seen, making a total of 4 plus another additional Pomarine on the return crossing.

The main sea watching areas en route to Quebec City were the Gulf of St Lawrence, the St Lawrence River itself and those areas off Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. Aucks started to be seen much closer to land and in the outer harbour type areas. Puffin, Guillemot, Black Guillemot and Razorbill were noted but not in any great numbers. Sea duck were seen just offshore and in bays and inlets.

On land, it was the usual walks in parks and gardens and seeing what you could on any trips out. The problem with cruising is that it is difficult to target any proper birdwatching sites because you rarely get a full day off the ship. More so, when its not a specific birding trip and your wife isnt a birder.

Out At Sea :-

Kittiwake
American Herring Gull
Fulmar
Great Shearwater
Manx Shearwater
Corys Shearwater
Sooty Shearwater
Gannet
Common Tern
Great Skua
Pomarine Skua
Merlin
Peregrine

Bays, Inlets, Shoreside Pools, Outer Harbours :-

Snow Goose
American Wigeon
American Black Duck
Green-winged Teal
Lesser Scaup
Common Eider
Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Black Scoter
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Semipalmated Plover
Lesser Yellowlegs
Greater Yellowlegs
Atlantic Puffin
Black Guillemot
Razorbill
Guillemot
Bonapartes Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Common Loon
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron

On Land :-

Turkey Vulture
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Canada Jay
Blue Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Boreal Chickadee
Golden-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
American Goldfinch
Dark-eyed Junco
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Common Grackle
Northern Cardinal


A real bonus was the unexpected birds flying by the ship in the middle of nowhere. Firstly, a juvenile Merlin, Taiga subspecies, flew alongside for 20 minutes or so, well out to sea, south of Newfoundland. A few days later, a juvenile Peregrine, Tundra subspecies did the same for well over an hour. This bird will have fledged this year to the north and more than likely would have been migrating, possibly to the eastern seaboard in the United States. Finally, we had 2 stow always on the return leg, a male and female Dark-eyed Junco, spotted a good one thousand miles into the journey. Not sure if they made it all the way to Southampton.

Not too many species seen but plenty of quality. Sea watching is my favourite type of birding and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

-- Edited by Mark Jarrett on Tuesday 21st of October 2025 09:15:05 PM