July 12th, 2006
baie verte waterfowl village
Day Three – at Baie Verte, New Brunswick (cont’d)
After finding the small Baie Verte park, we decided to go in search of a wetland park trail that we’d read about in one of our travel guides (known as the Baie Verte Waterfowl Village). Driving up the road, we stopped so that I could shoot some photos of the white flowers that we had been seeing growing along roadsides and in fields in many areas of New Brunswick. To me, they looked like Angelica. However, they had a strange scent that we both found somewhat unpleasant. I’m going to do some more checking into their ID as I’d be interested in knowing if they’re the same white flowers that we saw in growing so profusely in the Montreal area.
At the Baie Verte Community Center, we stopped to ask for directions to the wetland park. It turned out that we had missed the parking area which is located right across the road from the white wooden church in the middle of the village (see my previous post). The wetland area was established with the assistance of Ducks Unlimited, and contains two freshwater ponds and borders on a large salt marsh. The 2 km. long Red-winged Blackbird Trail, established in 1995, leads past the ponds and to an observation tower overlooking the salt marsh.
We walked the trails, finding many interesting plants along the way, including this Marsh Cinquefoil (Comarum palustre). I photographed a few butterflies and dragonflies including this butterfly which seems to be a Northern Pearly-Eye.
The observation platform located at the edge of a spruce forest, provides a wonderful view of a large expanse of salt marsh (see below). For a better idea of the view, check out the rough panorama that I’ve stitched together from several photos. It was extremely windy on the day of our visit, but it must be like that in that area much of the time as we noticed how the tops of the spruce trees in the forests were bent as though bowed by the wind (see photos).
Leaving Baie Verte, we took a back roads route through Tidnish to travel to Amherst where we’ll be staying for a couple of nights.
Next dispatch — waiting for the Tidal Bore, a hike to Wards Falls, and we visit the Joggins Fossil Cliffs.
Tags: Baie Verte Waterfowl Village, Red-winged Blackbird Trail
July 12th, 2006 at 2:37 am
Looks like your having a great time….enjoying your trip too!
July 12th, 2006 at 5:37 am
The white flowers look like Yarrow to me over here on the other side of the world, Bev.
July 12th, 2006 at 1:14 pm
Jimmy – We’re having a terrific time. Glad we’re able to bring you along for the ride! (-:
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Duncan – We have Yarrow here (Achillea sp.) as well, but the flowers are more compact and rigid. These are tall plants… growing to 5 or 6 feet tall and with very loosely formed flowerheads. I’ll try to post some better shots of the leaves and flowers in the next day or two when we’re taking a break from our wanderings. More hiking today!