It was the summer of 2024, and we were on a coastal trip to the USA and Canada. A trip like this takes quite a bit of planning, but there was one day when I had to wing it.
When we arrived in Percé, QC, on July 9th, I had an idea of what to do, but I also needed to travel a lot on that day. The plan was to go on a boat and see whales, but the boat charter did not put its schedule on the internet, so we had to go there and figure out what time it would be to see some whales. Upon arrival at the charter, they said their only whale cruise was in the afternoon.
Drats! Too late. I hoped to be well on my way to New Brunswick by afternoon.
Sadly, we left.
Noticing that this was a tourist town, we popped into a few shops, bought a few things, and then noticed a bunch of buildings that looked like part of a larger museum complex. They were. We had stumbled into Bonaventure Island National Park and Percé Rock. We looked at the various displays in the buildings and finally came upon a park ranger who should have been a salesman instead of standing behind a counter answering questions.
This should-have-been-salesman told us all about the birds on the island and that we could see them if we hopped on a boat. His sales pitch was exceptional. I wanted to see birds that would be sitting. He told us that we needed to buy tickets for the island here and then go to the first place we went to when we wanted to watch the whales. And we only had minutes to spare!
I was impressed that a day I could not plan worked out so amazing. I wanted to go on a boat but didn’t, then did. We intended to see whales but got to see so much more by cruising around Percé Rock and Île Bonaventure.
In a near panic, we rushed to buy tickets at the National Park and then across the way to the boat cruise people. Then, there was a rush to get on the boat. In no instance were we going to miss the boat. All these places were within a one-hundred-metre space, and everything took less than five minutes. Still, I am one to panic, especially if things are not properly planned.
The cruise was a good way to explore what made this particular town of Percé a tourist attraction. The boat sailed toward this large rock in the middle of the water. The ranger told us we must climb the island to see the birds. He was born French-speaking, and maybe he confused his words because when I saw Percé Rock, I thought that it was the bird colony, and we would have to scale those massively high, vertical cliffs to see the bird colonies. As the boat cruise continued its cruise, the guide, speaking in French and English, must have read my mind and clarified that Percé Rock is entirely off limits to anyone due to its instability. The guide then directed attention to the island, which was surrounded by birds.
It is amazing how clueless I can be at times. I spent so much time staring at Percé Rock, trying to plan a way to the top, that I failed to notice this island with vast numbers of birds flying around. There were many birds—more than I had ever seen in one location. The guide told us that the number of birds had significantly decreased years back. I could not imagine the island being able to support more birds than what I was seeing.
As we circled the island, we could see the various birds that had chosen this location for raising their young. Not just birds but also seals were in this rich fishing water. The cruise, in itself, was thoroughly enjoyable and showed us a lot. Then, we were able to disembark and walk onto the island to see the birds close up. We would realize why the ranger on the mainland said “climb”; it was all uphill all the way.
Because this was essentially an add-on stop and because the only way off the island was whenever the boat arrived, we headed to the closest gannet bird colony. It was also the largest of all the colonies on this island, so if I had to limit our time on the island, we should at least see the best it had to offer. We also were not well-prepared for hiking the entire island since we were racing time to get on the boat, and I did not have enough time to return to the car to get more water.
After a walk that seemed to never end, we arrived at the bird colony. My initial glance was, “That’s it?” But, like all places, it is best to stop and look at what is happening. We walked to the fence and were impressed by how close we could get to the birds. These loud gannets did not even seem to notice us there or all the other people who showed up when we did.
As we watched these birds, it became apparent what they were up to:
SEX!
Birds unabashedly performed their birdly duty right in front of us! Not once, not twice, but as much as three times before they found someone else to, uh, do it with.
It also became apparent that, besides doing the deed with one another, no one was there like anyone else. A single egg or chick was guarded by a parent who loudly complained whenever another bird got too close. They would wave their bills, even snap or stab other birds who got close enough. I began to see that the language of these birds consisted of four key phrases:
- I’m horny (very, very obvious)
- I’m here
- I’m hungry
- I’m here and get away
The more I watched, the more curious I became. When a bird arrives with food, how does it know who it is trying to find? The wrong bird showed that it came too close to it, but how did it know when it saw the right bird?
It pained me that we could not explore the rest of the island. We had to cut our exploration short and head back the way we came to get back to the boat and the car to get back on schedule.
This place would be somewhere I would visit again. I would love to see the other birds who nest here, besides the gannets, and spend more time watching birds interact. Maybe on our return, the bird numbers will have recovered.
- Tickets to access the bird island, Bonaventure Island, are sold separately at different locations.
- There is a snack bar on the island, but it is best to bring water when venturing around the island.
- The return boat comes only at certain times, so ensure you know the times before leaving the dock.
- Check out All The Places We Have Been Map to see where Gannets Colonies Observatory Tower and Centre de découverte du Parc national de l’Île-Bonaventure-et-du-Rocher-Percé are located.
