4/1

April Fool’s Day! Time for a Newfoundland post. My father’s parents were from Newfoundland, that island dangling off the far east coast of Canada that I suspect you’ve never given a thought to. That’s all right. Newfoundland is a small place and like many small places, it hasn’t always done well when the big places notice it.

If you’re birdy at all, you should think about visiting. It’s Seabird Central. The Atlantic Puffin is the star of the show, but all your favorite Atlantic seabirds make an appearance. I wasn’t really a birder when I visited the island but I did travel out to the great rookery at Cape St Mary’s. It‘s very much at the end of the world. There’s one small building for the visitor’s centre. High cliffs overlook the ocean. The wind on that May morning was bitterly cold. There were bazillions of birds nesting on the rocks and cliffs. Every now and then the wind would shift and I’d suddenly find myself downwind of them all. That will clear your nose in a hurry. Take a moment to watch the video below.

Why a Newfoundland post on April Fool’s Day? Newfoundland became part of Canada on April 1, 1949. Well, not precisely. The process by which Newfoundland joined Canada was contentious, requiring two hard-fought referendum campaigns. In the end the Confederation side won by a small margin over the Responsible Governance (independence) side. The necessary paperwork was drawn up and a date of April 1 was set. Someone then remembered what April 1 was known for, so they changed it to “immediately before the expiration of the thirty-first day of March, 1949.” But having a sentimental attachment to the Responsible Governance side, I fly my Republic of Newfoundland flag on April 1.

Cape St Mary’s Ecological Reserve

The flag of the Republic of Newfoundland