Issue link: http://read.canadatravelguides.ca/i/1520274
30 SPIRIT BEAR AND HER CUB, GREAT BEAR RAINFOREST, B.C. • SHUTTERSTOCK/ RICHARD SEELEY River are also prime locales for whale watching. Every summer some 12 species— including minke, humpback, finback and right whales—swim into the Bay of Fundy to mate, play and feast on the bountiful food churned up twice daily by the powerful tides. Salmon live in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and are renowned for spawning, that is fighting their way upstream to lay eggs and die in the same freshwater location where they were hatched. Spawning salmon, the lifeblood of the west coast, provide food for bears, foxes, wolves, eagles and more, who then fertilize the forest with their droppings. Spawning salmon can be seen in fall and the first half of winter at many locations, often far inland. FLYING HIGH Featured on the dollar coin, loons are duck- sized birds, regally patterned in black and white. Excellent swimmers, they catch small fish in fast underwater chases. Other than in the extreme north, their eerie, echoing calls can be heard on numerous lakes, especially in the Canadian Shield. Canada geese, another national icon, are so common across the country they have become a pest at some golf courses and parks. In the air, however, they fly in an elegant V-formation. Once migratory, many now reside here year-round. The bald eagle, a noble raptor most associ- ated with the United States, actually builds enormous nests in tall trees across most of North America. The bald eagle, with its white head and tail, is particularly abundant in western British Columbia. The best time to see eagles in B.C. is in fall and the first half of winter when they gather, sometimes in the thousands, at spawning sites such as Brackendale and the upper Harrison River. On the other side of the country, huge numbers of ethereal snow geese make quite a sight in spring and fall when they take their migratory pit stops along Québec's St. Lawrence River. The Bay of Fundy provides another avian spectacle. In late July and August, more than two million tiny sandpipers flock into the coastal region to gorge on shrimp before flying south. Mary's Point in New Brunswick and Evangeline Beach in Nova Scotia are two top places for viewing. Newfoundland is also a hot spot for birders. The Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, for instance, has North America's largest Atlantic puffin colony, while the Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve is known for razorbills, cormorants, kittiwakes and dive- bombing gannets. MUCH MORE This is but a small sampling, a teaser, to encourage you to get outdoors and see the vast array of creatures that live in Canada. BALD EAGLE WITH EAGLETS, BC • SHUTTERSTOCK/BIRDIEGAL