On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Winter Wren
Just north of the Ile d’Orleans on the mainland is Cap Tourmente. Cap Tourmente is a headland which plunges dramatically into the Saint Lawrence River. It is world famous as a fall stop-over for migrating snow geese. A string of picturesque towns and rivers emptying into the Saint Lawrence follows the coastline northwards of Cap Tourmente to the Saguenay river and fjord.
Cap Tourmente can be seen from the north end of the Ile d’Orleans, but you need to cross back to the mainland to visit.
Fall color starting on the promontory. This is a view from near the visitor center.
From the visitor center, you can take a very short and accessible walk over some grassy meadows to the bulrush marsh at the river’s edge. There is a large blind that can be used to observe the snow geese. Unfortunately, something set all of the birds in motion just as we approached on this particular morning, creating this spectacle. The numbers can vary greatly from day to day. On this day, the park staff estimated there were 36000 geese at the site.
We enjoyed our morning visit so much, that we came back later in the day at low tide and the birds were more settled. Most of them are digging up bulrush bulbs in the marsh to gain some nourishment for the rest of the migration. So, they end up with dirty brown heads instead of the normal pristine white. Still, an amazing sight. Some mallards and green-winged teal are mixed in here also.
We stayed at this B&B just north of Baie Saint Paul on this trip. The proprieter worked at Michelin restaurants in France and with Gordon Ramsay at one point. He ran an excellent dinner restaurant here in addition to the B&B. Sadly, this place looks like another pandemic casualty as it doesn’t seem to exist anymore.
I had brought my bike and biked down one morning from the B&B to Baie St Paul itself. Here is a view of the bay on the way down to the town. The ferry to Isle-aux-Coudres leaves from here (something to explore on a future visit).
Baie St Paul is on a beautiful river valley and I biked up the valley to this nice vista of local farmland and the mountainous inland region beyond.
We took a day trip on this visit from Baie St Paul to Tadoussac, crossing the Saguenay fjord here on the ferry. The weather at the fjord was misty and then turned to a drenching rain once we got to Tadoussac, so it was an abbreviated trip this time.
On a prior crossing of the fjord during the fall, the weather was better and we saw this group of scoters was flying south.
We were fortunate to see beluga whales on both crossings of that fall ferry trip. No close-ups unfortunately, but captured this picture of one on the way back. Apparently a pod of belugas is isolated here in the fjord and follow the tides back and forth. They are much further south than their normal Arctic range.
The intersection of the rivers here mixes lots of nutrients from the Saguenay river with the Saint Lawrence estuary, resulting ultimately in a rich feeding environment for whales and seabirds. On our most recent trip, we finally stayed overnight in Tadoussac instead of taking day trips from points further south. This visit is the subject of the next post (part 3).
Eunicecycle
I had no idea there are fjords in North America! Interesting!
OzarkHillbilly
Love that Baie St Paul/ beautiful river valley pic. Gorgeous.
stinger
What wonderful photos! A shame about that B&B. Like Eunicecycle, I was surprised that the term fjord was ever applied to anything this far west of Norway. I’d love to see this part of the world.
pieceofpeace
What a find! And the camera holder is adept at framing these gorgeous photos…
The snow geese must have been on the edge of Wow! – like experiencing that feeling of soaring from their mass skedaddle. Nature does put on the best shows.
Spanish Moss
Such a peaceful scene, but oh, the cacophony! Tens of thousands of geese make A LOT of noise. As you walk towards the river you can hear them long before you can see them.
marklar
Thanks for this. The North Shore of the Gulf of St. Laurent from Quebec City and Setp Iles (with the Saguenay tossed in) has been on my short-list for a while, and this photoessay has pushed it towards the top.
Also, having seen 120,000 snow geese take off at the same time at Middlecreek Wildlife Management Area in Pennsylvania, I can appreciate the spectacle. My guess is than an eagle did a flyby.
Winter Wren
@marklar: Wow – that sounds like an even greater spectacle! The nearby town Saint Joachim hosts a festival (Festival de l’Oie des Neiges) weekend generally in early October to celebrate the return of the snow geese. Besides some in-town events, the refuge itself hosts some nature talks – including some songbird bird banding demonstrations – we have done that a few times.
beckya57
I have been told the Hood Canal here in WA is technically a fjord (it’s certainly not a canal).
We travelled much of this same area in August 2022. We took a very enjoyable boat trip through Sanguenay Fjord. I’m sorry about your B&B, but am happy to report Baie St Paul was thriving, with lots of tourists, restaurants and art galleries. Tadoussac is also a lovely town, remarkably well endowed with restaurants for a place so remote.
Manyakitty
Just beautiful 😍
Thor Heyerdahl
Thank you Winter Wren.
I was in that part of Quebec in 2012. I had started on the the south shore, stayed at a hostel in Riviere-du-Loup, crossed the St. Lawrence River by ferry between Riviere-du-Loup and St-Simeon, stopped at Tadoussac, drove up the Saguenay fjord and back, stayed at a B&B in Les Bergeronnes, and then returned to Quebec City via the north shore.
What I distinctly remember from the trip is seeing the river width expand greatly once I was downstream from Ile d’Orleans. Crossing the St. Lawrence River near Tadoussac takes more than an hour as the river is more than 20 km wide.
Winter Wren
@beckya57: Yes, the next post is Tadoussac area in July 2022, so hopefully may capture something similar to your experience.
Winter Wren
@Thor Heyerdahl: Indeed – My next post has a picture from the dunes at Tadoussac that hopefully conveys that sense of scale!
Dan B
@Eunicecycle: Tge west cast of North America from Washington State to Kenai Fjords is a fjord fest. Much of it seldom visited wilderness. Alaska cruise ships sail past the mouths of almost every one. Only smaller tour boats venture into these pristine wonders.