moose
Moose family, Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario.

Wild, Wild East - Part 6

The Northeastern part of the United States and the Maritime Provinces of Canada were the first part of the New World to experience the effects of capitalism. They were once almost totally deforested, and most larger animals were hunted to extinction. It took decades of expensive reforestation and reintroduction efforts to make this area green and full of wildlife again.
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Acadia National Park, Maine.
The coastline here is a labyrinth of fjords, islands, and former river valleys flooded with sea at the end of the last Ice Age. It is also a major flyway, used twice a year by millions of birds. view
Acadia National Park, Maine.
bird bird bird bird bird
bird Birds of the Atlantic Flyway, upper row, left to right: black-bellied plover (Pluvialis squatarola), American golden plover (P. dominica), white-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis), grasshopper sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum), song sparrow (Melospiza melodia); bottom row, left - semipalmated plover (Charadrius semipalmatus), right - greater snow goose (Anser coerulescens atlanticus). bird
bird
Cooper's hawk (Accipiter cooperii),
Cape May, New Jersey.
falcon
Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus),
Cape May, New Jersey.

Cape May in the fall and Point Pelee, Ontario, in spring are among the best places to see migratory raptors, owls, waterbirds, and songbirds.
bird
Merlin (F. columbarius),
Cape May, New Jersey.
swan swan swan
Swans of the Northeast, left to right: mute (Cygnus olor), tundra (C. columbianus), trumpeter (C. buccinator). Lake Ontario.
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High tide, Fundy Nat'l Park.
Bay of Fundy, which separates Nova Scotia peninsula from mainland Canada, has the highest tides in the world: up to 20 m in some places. Many coves and bays become mountain valleys at low tide. Fundy Nat'l Park in New Brunswick is a good place to watch them. view
Low tide, Fundy Nat'l Park.
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The Big Sow.
Tidal currents create hundreds of whirlpools. The largest of them, the Big Sow off Deer Island, New Brunswick, is 400 m/1300' in diameter. It attracts lots of seabirds and occasionally marine mammals. view
High tide, Fundy Nat'l Park.
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Coastline of Gaspe Peninsula, Quebec.
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Coastal village, Gaspe Peninsula.
Gaspe Peninsula in Quebec is the most scenic and pristine stretch of coast anywhere between St. Lawrence River and Nicaragua.
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Offshore island, Gaspe Peninsula.
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Coastal village, Gaspe Peninsula.
birds
Nothern gannets (Sula bassana), Isla Buenaventura.
Small islands off Gaspe are the major breeding sites for many seabirds and seals. birds
Nothern gannets, Isla Buenaventura, Quebec.
bird bird bird bird
Northern gannets, Isla Buenaventura.
birds
Snow buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis),
Iles de la Madeleine.
Iles de la Madeleine are probably the most interesting ones. In addition to seabird colonies, they are famous as the main breeding area for harp seals. There's also some rare flora in the sand dunes there. birds
Black guillemots (Cepphus grylle) in winter and
summer plumage, Iles de la Madeleine.
fox fox fox fox
Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) in a snowstorm, Iles de la Madeleine, Quebec.
pines
Eastern white pines, Kouchibouguac
Nat'l Park, New Brunswick.
The Northeast was once a large boreal forest, dominated by Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus). Some nice forest parks still exist on both sides of the Canadian border, mostly in Minnesota, New Hampshire, Maine, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick. hemlocks
Canadian hemlocks (Tsuga
canadensis
), Wisconsin
moose
Moose, Kouchibouguac
Nat'l Park, New Brunswick.
moose
Moose (Alces canadensis),
Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario.
moose
Moose, Kouchibouguac
Nat'l Park, New Brunswick.
beaver
Canadian beaver (Castor
canadensis
), Minnesota.
Here you can see moose, gray and red wolves, beavers (sometimes surprisingly tame), and other characters from the "true" wilderness.
track
Tracks of red wolf
(Canis rufus lycaon),
Gaspe Peninsula.
beaver
Wild beaver exploring
my toes, Hiawatha
Nat'l Forest, Michigan.
beaver
Wolverine (Gulo gulo)
track, Laurentides
Reserve, Quebec.
beaver
Beaver, Niobrara River,
Nebraska.
beaver Canadian beavers, Voyagers Nat'l Park, Minnesota. beaver
bird bird bird bird bird bird bird bird
Woodpeckers of the Northeast, left to right: downy (Picoides pubecens), female and male (2 photos), hairy (P. villosus), American 3-toed (P. dorsalis), male and female, black-backed (P. arcticus), pileated (Dryocopus pileatus). La Mauricie Nat'l Park, Quebec.
rabbit
New England cottontail (Sylvilagus
transitionalis
), Ninigret NWR, Rhode I.
Boreal forests usually have low levels of biodiversity. But some parts of the Northeast have escaped the last glaciation, so it has a surprising variety of plants, invertebrates, amphibians, and small mammals. weasel
Least weasel (Mustela nivalis),
Labrador Hwy, Quebec.
frog frog frog frog frog
Frogs of the Northeast, left to right: bull (Rana catesbiana), two photos, wood (R. sylvatica), mink (R. septentrionalis), Northern leopard (R. pipiens).
squirrel squirrel chipmunk squirrel
Northeastern squirrels, left to right: red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), 2 photos, Eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus), Eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), black phase.
crab
Horseshoe crab , Chesapeake Bay,
Maryland.
Some of the "living fossils" also occur in the Northeast: the funniest of North American mammals - starnose mole (Condylura cristata), and the most ancient of all, horseshoe crab (Limulus
polyphemus
)- the living descendant of trilobites.
track
Moose track, Moosehorn NWR,
Maine.
coon
Raccoon
(Procyon lotor),
Washington, DC
Millions of them appear on Atlantic beaches in spring to lay eggs during high tide. But what have been just beaches for 400 million years, is now beachfront property; more and more horseshoe crabs are killed each year to make fish bait. They are probably the next key element of the ecosystem to be lost. The last horseshoe crabs, still crawling out of the polluted and overfished ocean into the world of skyscrapers and traffic jams, are a good symbol of the American East. coon
Raccoon hunting
horseshoe crabs,
Long Island, New York

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Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick.

Part 7. Northeastern Canada.

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