FOR THE BIRDS

February 1994

By

Helen O'Shea

Bitterly cold weather and ice in the harbour led to lots of birds in yards at feeders.Pearl Magee had a Hairy Woodpecker arrive the second week in January. We counted 52 seagulls on Havenside Road below Burkes' on Jan.16 before that part of the harbour was iced up.  That number probably is a great percentage of the local gull population.  That same day we saw 2 Dovekies and 5 Common Eiders near the Government Wharf.The minus 20 degree temperature of Jan.17 brought two mature Bald Eagles to the harbour ice below Carlton Lunn's where they shared a bite of lunch.  Although pine siskin numbers are down in some areas of Cape Breton I  had 28 at my feeder Jan.20 and Susann Myers counted 30.  She also had the largest flock of Evening Grosbeaks when 70 landed at one time.  The number of American Goldfinch is down and the Grosbeaks are quite sporadic.  They are gone for a few days and then appear again at feeders in the area.  Bill Bussey reported three Red Polls on Feb.1 but Lionel Wadden of Main a Dieu has 12 to 15 Red Polls arrive each day with another 15 Pine Siskins as a flock.  They have been arriving faithfully since mid-December.  He also has 10 Mourning Doves. We have noticed that there are very few Purple Finch this winter.  It seems that when the Red Polls are plentiful the Purple Finch are scarce.Buddy Kehoe saw a Robin in George Barter's yard on Jan. 25. The week of Jan.24 to 28 Susann watched two Robins and two Bohemian Waxwings eating berries in the bushes at her neighbours'--the Shepherds.  She saw 30 starlings arrive one day that same week. The black ducks have been concentrated around the outlet on Commercial St.--on Jan.28 there were 24 of them looking for munchies.  The same afternoon we saw six female and two male Old Squaws at Lighthouse Point and the Government Wharf area.  We also saw three Goldeneyes and two female and a male Red-Breasted Merganser.Jan.28 Darryl Peck saw two Bald Eagles at Slattery's Point. Margie and Donald Cameron had 10 Blue Jays and 10 Crows feeding in their yard on Feb.7 and Gordon MacLean had approximately 25 crows in his yard the same afternoon.  2 Mourning Doves visited Camerons' feeder in early February.  Perhaps they are the same two Mourning Doves who visit my feeders daily.  Many of us have the Slate-coloured Juncos.  They are ground feeders who arrive in the afternoon in large numbers and stay until dusk. Victor Anderson has had three American Tree Sparrows as steady visitors since early January.  Two Song Sparrows are also guests at his feeders.

DID YOU KNOW that Black-capped Chickadees can withstand minus 40 to minus 45 degree temperatures.  They stay close to the bole of the tree.  They may also huddle in woodpecker holes.  They put on 2 grams of body fat a day to maintain their weight of four to six grams.  No wonder they are constantly at the feeders.  They will freeze before they starve to death from an insufficient food supply.   

THE WORM IS THE HARBINGER, NOT THE ROBIN.  Many Robins seen this time of year have exhausted food supplies in Newfoundland and are heading west.  These birds overwinter in the Maritimes.  For a dependable sign of spring, watch for a robin pulling a worm from a lawn.The WORM is the sign of spring.

Helen O’Shea

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

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