The route to Elliston where I will see my first Atlantic Puffins on this trip, goes through Twillingate, the centre of iceberg alley. Alas, there were no icebergs at Twillingate this time. Bird photography will begin to get hot and heavy from here on.

Photos were taken on route from L' Anse aux Meadows.

The earliest known people to inhabit the area were the Maritime Archaic, who occupied the area 3,500 years ago in roughly 1500 BC. The Maritime Archaic people were later supplanted by the Beothuk, and possibly the Dorset Inuit, who occupied the area until the arrival of European settlers.^[3][6]

The French had been fishing in the area possibly as early as 1500, but the first European settlers did not arrive until the 17th century. The settlers were mostly made up of fishermen and their families from the West Country in England.^[3][6] The native Beothuk managed to survive until the early 19th century in small numbers near Twillingate and the mouth of the Exploits River.

As the population grew, Twillingate became an important fishing community. It was a busy trade and service centre for Labrador and the northern shore fisheries for more than two centuries. One of the more prominent historical events that occurred in the history of Twillingate was the arrival of a local newspaper – the Twillingate Sun. The Sun served Twillingate and its local area from the 1880s until the 1950s. The Sun was a robust and professional newspaper that not only covered local and provincial news, but also international news as well.^[7][8] Lewisporte based newspaper the Pilot then served the area until going defunct in 2018. Since the Fisheries and Oceans Canada moratorium on fishing northern cod (see Endangered Species Controversies in Canada and Europe) was announced on July 2, 1992,^[9] followed shortly after by the collapse of the fishing industry, Twillingate has been forced to look to the tourist industry for income and has become a popular spot for visitors in the summer.^[4]

Twillingate 108 Twillingate 109 copy 2 Twillingate 112 Twillingate 111 Twillingate 113 Twillingate 110 Twillingate 114 Twillingate 115 Twillingate 116 Twillingate 117 Twillingate 118 Twillingate 119 copy Twillingate 120 Twillingate 121 Twillingate 122 Twillingate 123 Twillingate 124 Twillingate 125 Twillingate 126 Twillingate 127 copy Twillingate 128 copy Twillingate 129 Twillingate 130 copy Twillingate 131 Twillingate 132

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Twillingate 133 Twillingate 134

Marsh Marigold-Memories from home

Twillingate 100 Twillingate 101

Red-breasted Merganser

Twillingate 102 Twillingate 103 Twillingate 104 Twillingate 105 Twillingate 106 Twillingate 107