FOR THE BIRDS

December 1995

By

Helen O'Shea

Above-average temperatures of November have shore birds in the area longer than they have stayed the past couple of years. The Fortress Barachois is a wonderful place to watch them.

November 5 and 6 Bill and I saw 2 Semipalmated Plover and 2 Black-bellied Plover there. On November 18 we saw a Semipalmated Sandpiper at the same location. As we stood observing him he approached within a couple of feet and looked at us for a couple of minutes before moving on. Our last look at 2 Greater Yellowlegs was in the ditch outside the Dauphin Demi-Bastion on November 12. 

There is a flock of American Black Duck at Gerratt's Brook. It averages 10 although sometimes there are 18. Since November 11 there have been a couple of flocks of Snow Buntings in the Fortress area ranging between 2 and 5 dozen birds. They swirl around like snowflakes and blend with rocks on the beaches. We have seen flocks of Bufflehead off the Fortress and a flock of 6 Cedar Waxwings which are seen eating berries on bushes throughout the town. 

The last Cormorant was seen November 18. 

There has been a pair of Merlin at various locations throughout the town from Gerratt's Brook through Huntington Avenue and the S & L.  

I no sooner mentioned the Northern Cardinal than Jean Bagnell reported that she and Dodie had seen a juvenile at the Lighthouse this summer. It was eating berries. Diane MacLean reported a female at her feeder and in the bushes November 13 and 14. The Blue Jays chased it away. Roger Wilson reported a female Northern Cardinal at his feeder November 19 and saw it again November 28. 

Susann Myers had a flock of 99 Bohemian Waxwings lined up on the telephone wires in her yard on November 29. She still has lots of White-Winged Crossbills and Red-breasted Nuthatches. The colder weather in December brought out the large flocks in full force. A call on December 2 from Kay Skinner reported 150 Bohemian Waxwings stripping the berries from the trees and bushes in her backyard.  

The birds were at my backyard feeders December 4. They included Red-breasted Nuthatch, Black-capped Chickadees, Goldfinch and Blue Jays. There was a Brown Creeper--the first one I have seen in eight years. The next day there was a Song Sparrow. By Wednesday there were Pine Siskins, female Purple Finch, Mourning Doves, and a flock of 80 Evening Grosbeaks. Interspersed with this large flock were several American Goldfinch. This same day, December 7, Pearl Magee called to report a White-Throated Sparrow, and a Golden-Crowned Kinglet who was accompanied by an Orange-Crowned Warbler. We had been discussing a sighting of this bird in the Halifax area a couple of weeks earlier and had looked it up in Peterson. It is much drabber than expected.  

BROWN CREEPER. 

" This bird is 5 1/2 inches long. It looks like a tiny brown woodpecker. Clings to vertical surfaces of tree trunks and limbs. Slender, with long, stiff tail; uses its thin, slightly curved bill to probe crevices for tiny insects. Adults have brown upperparts streaked with buff; underparts off-white; thin whitish eyeline; bill very thin and somewhat downcurved. This coloring makes it inconspicuous as it creeps up trunks, often in a spiral fashion; generally starts at the base of a tree and works up." An Audubon Handbook: Eastern Birds, p. 314. 

SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER. 

This sparrow-sized sandpiper specializes in mudflats, but also occurs on beaches and around marshes. It is abundant on the Atlantic Coast. It forages by quick picking and shallow probing. It has black legs, and a black, stout bill. It is a common transient with stragglers sometimes seen until the end of November. It breeds in the lower Arctic and winters from the southern United States to South America. Birds of Nova Scotia by Robie Tufts and Eastern Birds (Audubon) 

CHRISTMAS TURKEY. 

Though almost never seen at back yard feeders, the Domestic Turkey is a popular bird at this time of year. It is believed that the bird we eat at Christmas dinner was developed from the native Mexican turkey, Meleagris mexicana. The Spanish brought tame turkeys to Europe in 1519 and they reached England in 1524. By 1542, turkey was a regular part of the English Christmas. The Pilgrims brought several with them when they came to Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620. While on the Christmas topic, I am reminded of Little Jack Horner who sat in the corner, Eating his Christmas Pie. One such Christmas Pie of the 1500s included, ". . . two bushels of flour and twenty pounds of butter for the pastry and four geese, two turkeys, four ducks, as well as rabbits, curlews, blackbirds, pigeons, partridges, snipe, woodcock and tongues forming the mixture inside."

Christmas Bird Count

I hope the weather co-operates for the Saturday, December 16 Christmas Bird Count. The response from the people of Louisbourg has been very encouraging. 

Remember to give me a call any time that you see an interesting bird or a large flock. My number is 733-2873. The winter water fowl are already in the area so a coastal drive or walk yields rewards.  

I wish all of you a Happy Holiday Season.

Helen O'Shea

Extracted from © The Seagull, Helen O'Shea, For the Birds

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