FOR THE BIRDS

JANUARY 2001

By

Helen O'Shea

At my feeders

The seven American Goldfinch of early December increased to 60 by the day of the Christmas Bird Count. Now the flock is approximately 80. The two pair of Purple Finch have become a flock of 20—including several immature males with varying amounts of colour –an orange-red that is not the raspberry colour of the mature males. One Starling visits regularly. Only 2 or 3 Blue Jays stop by. They are welcome since they don’t empty the feeder, but only eat a limited amount. Blue Jays often fill their crop and fly off to cache their seeds. They then return and repeat the procedure for a couple of hours. The Hairy Woodpecker has been in the trees a couple of times eating insects. The most exciting moment was the arrival of a White-throated Sparrow on the last day of 2000. Pine Siskins arrived for the first time this season on January 4.

Mystery Solved

The birds have been scattering with little warning on numerous occasions. I never saw a Sharp-shinned Hawk flying through the yard as has happened in past years. On New Year’s Eve the answer became obvious. Immediately after the birds flew off Bill pointed out a bird on the utility line. For a brief moment we saw a Northern Shrike perched there. Shrikes are the predators that often impale their prey on thorn bushes or on barbed wire fencing as a snack for a later time.

First Bird of 2001

Looking out the kitchen window toward the feeder I was saw a White-throated Sparrow.

Next and Best Bird of 2001

A Dovekie was swimming and diving in the water on the ocean side of the Fortress Barachois. It spent more time underwater than on the surface but was easy to observe since it was within 3 yards of the shoreline.

Nature Provides Food

There is a multi flora rose bush that has grown out of control with branches extending up into the limbs of a nearby tree in my back yard. The Purple Finch find the rosehips delightful and can flit into the thorny bush for safety from predators. On windy days they shelter in the rose bush with Juncos and several American Goldfinch.

Reported Sightings

• Colleen and Joe Rosta, summer residents of the Louisbourg Motorhome Park, reported 24 Canada Geese at Northside East Bay on December 17.
• Pearl, Winston, and Eugene Magee saw 9 Canada Geese on the ocean side of the Fortress Barachois on Christmas Eve. We drove down to see them.
• Donald John and Margie Cameron had 4 Black-capped Chickadees at their feeders.
• Ian Harte saw 29 Common Eider and one female King Eider at Gooseberry Cove in late December.
• Linda Fudge and Michael MacKeigan had watched a Cedar Waxwing eating crabapples from the small tree in their front yard on December 27th.
• Sylvia Trimm found a Dovekie in her yard about 4 p.m. on New Year’s Eve. She called Susann Myers who boldly stuffed the bird inside her jacket so she could have her hands free to drive the bird down to the Government Wharf where she released it. These alcids have legs so far back on their bodies that they cannot walk on land or get the lift to fly into the air. Usually winds cause them to come too far inland as they fly. They are birds of the open seas.
• Cliff Peck saw 2 Brant at the ocean side of the Fortress Barachois on December 30. They had no white on the head.
• Susann Myers, Gerry Lalonde, Bill and I watched a Northern Shrike at the Fortress site on January 3. It was perched atop a scrubby tree. Susann and Gerry had also seen a small flock of Snow Bunting behind the King’s Bastion.
• Myles MacDonald, working at the Fortress, had seen a raft of Common Eider off Black Rock early that same morning.
• Bill and I saw several Pine Grosbeaks in the trees beside the service road as we headed toward the booth at the entrance to the Fortress on January 3. A couple of days later we saw 8 Pine Grosbeaks at various places between Big Lorraine and Little Lorraine. (So far we have not seen any Red or White-winged Crossbills.
• Peter Chiasson and Sandy Anthony have a large number of Blue Jays at their feeders. We counted seven at one time.
• Pat and Bob Holland had a holiday visitor between Christmas and New Year’s. A Great Horned Owl came every day for a week. It appeared in the early morning and again in the late afternoon.

Around the Harbour and along the coast

What began with spotting one female Scaup at Little Lorraine ended later January 5 with more than 80 Greater Scaup at Glace Bay Harbour. We also saw 30 Long-tailed Duck and more than 100 Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls. In addition there were 14 Black-headed Gulls, 4 Iceland Gulls, 2 Ring-billed Gulls, a dozen Red-breasted Mergansers, and a Double-crested Cormorant.

Our harbour has several Common Goldeneye, 3 or 4 Common Loon, numerous Red-breasted Mergansers, a couple of dozen American Black Duck, and several pair of Buffleheads. There have also been small numbers of Long-tailed Duck and increasing numbers of Black Guillemots. On December 23, I saw more than 100 Northern Gannets flying in ragged formation across the harbour mouth toward Black Rock.

On January 6, we found a Common (Thin-billed ) Murre floating on the ocean side of the Fortress Barachois. Bill crossed the sands at low tide to retrieve it. We were then able to measure it, observe all the fine details, and take numerous photographs. It was an unfortunate accident for the poor bird, but it gave us an excellent opportunity to observe all the identifying features that are listed in the bird guides. Flying birds tend to move too quickly and are often too far away to observe all the detail.

Until we meet on the street—good birding, and good luck with the new winter arrivals.

Helen O’Shea

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

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