Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve
This natural reserve is home to some 5,500 pairs of northern gannets: big, noisy, beautiful, graceful white birds with cappuccino-colored heads and black wingtips. While they can be seen wintering off the coast of Florida and elsewhere to the south, they're seldom seen in such cacophonous numbers as they are here. Most are nesting literally right on top of one another on a compact, 100m (328-ft.) sea stack. At any given moment, hundreds are flying above, around, and below you, too, which is all the more impressive given their huge, nearly 2m (6 1/2-ft.) wingspan.
You needn't take a boat ride to see the colony. Start your visit at the visitor center, which offers a quick and intriguing introduction to the indigenous bird life. Then walk 15 minutes along a grassy cliff-top pathway -- through harebell, iris, and dandelion -- until you arrive at a dizzying cliff just a couple of dozen yards from the sea stack (it's close enough to be impressive even in a dense fog). You'll be looking straight down onto the birds. Also nesting on and around the island are some 10,000 pairs of murre, 10,000 kittiwakes, and 100 razorbills. Guided tours are offered for a fee and are worthwhile; so is the summer performance series of evening concerts, if it's on. This extensive and unique wildland is worth several hours to a half-day for die-hard shutterbugs or birders. Admission to the reserve was free in 2007, though this could change in the future.
This natural reserve is home to some 5,500 pairs of northern gannets: big, noisy, beautiful, graceful white birds with cappuccino-colored heads and black wingtips. While they can be seen wintering off the coast of Florida and elsewhere to the south, they're seldom seen in such cacophonous numbers as they are here. Most are nesting literally right on top of one another on a compact, 100m (328-ft.) sea stack. At any given moment, hundreds are flying above, around, and below you, too, which is all the more impressive given their huge, nearly 2m (6 1/2-ft.) wingspan.
You needn't take a boat ride to see the colony. Start your visit at the visitor center, which offers a quick and intriguing introduction to the indigenous bird life. Then walk 15 minutes along a grassy cliff-top pathway -- through harebell, iris, and dandelion -- until you arrive at a dizzying cliff just a couple of dozen yards from the sea stack (it's close enough to be impressive even in a dense fog). You'll be looking straight down onto the birds. Also nesting on and around the island are some 10,000 pairs of murre, 10,000 kittiwakes, and 100 razorbills. Guided tours are offered for a fee and are worthwhile; so is the summer performance series of evening concerts, if it's on. This extensive and unique wildland is worth several hours to a half-day for die-hard shutterbugs or birders. Admission to the reserve was free in 2007, though this could change in the future.
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