FOR THE BIRDS

February 1997
By

Helen O'Shea

Cliff Peck stopped me to mention that he has observed that during very cold weather the Crows stand with their wings lowered to cover their legs.

Carlton Lunn called at 3:30 pm Sunday, January 19 to report that he and Nicholas saw 27 Blue Geese flying quietly from Lorraine to the Fortress along the coast. He was impressed by the fact that they were virtually noiseless compared to Canada Geese. Since I had not heard of this bird I consulted Birds of Nova Scotia by Robie Tufts, Eastern Birds: an Audubon Handbook, and Birds of North America by the National Geographic Society. The Snow Goose has two distinct colour phases: a dark (blue) phase and a white phase. The dark phase, called the Blue Goose, was once considered a separate species and is rarer in the East than the white phase. White-phase adults are white with black wing tips; pink bill with black "lips", and pink feet . The Blue Goose variant has dark gray body, white head and neck; belly has variable amounts of white; wings gray with black tips. This was the sighting of the month.

Gary Peck reported several American Crows attacking a smaller bird on the road near the Store. He rescued what was later identified as a Dovekie. He brought this bird to the Government Wharf where he released it into the water. As mentioned in a previous article (Jan. 1995), the Dovekie cannot take off if it is ashore since it cannot walk. Often it is blown ashore after a gale.

The huge flock of 200 starlings is still around. There seem to be fewer gulls. The best bird-viewing location is between the Fish Plant and the Government Wharf. We have seen flocks of 14 Red-Breasted Mergansers, 12 Bufflehead Ducks, 12 Common Goldeneye, 24 Oldsquaw Ducks, 32 American Black Ducks, a female Mallard who is often with the Black Ducks, Common Loons and a Red-necked Grebe. Susann Myers has also seen some of these birds in the Harbour.

Junior and Geraldine Metcalfe were birding in the area on January 26 and spotted a Common Eider, a Thick-Billed Murre and Harlequin Ducks at Gooseberry Cove.

Sometimes I do not have any birds at my feeders for hours and speculated that there must be a hawk in the neighbourhood. This was confirmed January 29 when a female Sharp-Shinned Hawk swooped through the yard and landed in a nearby tree where she posed for at least five minutes.

Good Birding! Remember to give me a call with your sightings at 733-2873.

Helen O’Shea

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

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