FOR THE BIRDS

JANUARY  2003

By

Helen O'Shea

SIGHTINGS

The American Robin winters regularly from southern Canada and the northern U.S. south to Baja, California, Gulf coast, s. Fla., to Guatemala; casually further north (John K. Terres, The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds, Wing Books, 1995, p. 919)

• Doug and Ruth Stevens met me at the Heritage Christmas. They watched 30 American Robins eating dogberries (mountain ash) the first week of December in their yard in Catalone.
• Virginia Drover reported an American Robin eating mountain ash berries at the Senior Citizen apartment building on Christmas Eve.
• Evelyn MacKenzie called New Year’s Eve to report 30 Robins eating mountain ash berries.
• Pearl Magee called January 6 to report 9 American Robins in her yard along with American Goldfinch and Purple Finch. She had a Yellow-breasted Chat on Christmas Eve and a Savannah Sparrow on Boxing Day. She had 12 Evening Grosbeaks show up on New Year’s Day. She has an immature White-throated Sparrow daily and watches 20 to 25 American Goldfinch divide their time between the cone crop in nearby trees and her feeders.
• Dorothy and Leonard Burke have Mourning Doves and 20 to 25 Juncos at their feeders daily.
• Warren Bagnell told me about a female Northern Harrier that was in his yard in early December. From later sightings we know that it is still there.
• Marmon Smith has the female Northern Harrier in his yard from time to time as well as a flock of 200 European Starlings.
• Marisia Stevens and Juanita Fudge watched a female Northern Harrier move between the property of Iris and Earl Stevens, Laura and Ervin Langille and the trees of Warren Bagnell’s property the morning of January 2.
• Susann Myers reported a Northern Mockingbird in her yard on December 30.
• Gerry Gartland has a lack of ground cover this winter since he pruned his rose bushes. He notices that there are few birds at his feeders.
• Gary Peck commented on the swirling motion of the starlings as they move through the air.

AROUND the TOWN

Burns MacMillan had a Sharp-Shinned hawk swoop into his bush that is normally a roost for House Sparrows on December 30. As quickly as this raptor disappeared his birds returned. A pair of Crows were on the lines across the street from the home of Millie Parsons on January 6. 100 European Starlings were on the lines and in the trees in front of Sonny Gray’s that same afternoon. Darlene and Chris Chisholm have the female Northern Harrier swoop through their yard as it checks out the birds at my feeders. The smaller birds bounce off the windows in their attempts to escape and the yard is empty for at least half an hour. Sandy Anthony and Peter Chiasson have a large number of Blue Jays and Mourning Doves coming to their feeders. Of course there are also Crows and Starlings. 

AROUND the HARBOUR

Pearl and Winston Magee sat in their vehicle and watched a male Ring-necked Pheasant in the pristine snow at St. Richard’s cemetery on January 5. They also saw 11 Buffleheads at the Fortress Barachois. On December 27 they saw a flock of a dozen Long-tailed Ducks at the Lighthouse and a pair of Bald Eagles. On January 5 Bill & I saw a Common Loon on the ocean side of the Havenside Barachois and two black ducks below the Lighthouse. There were a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers and an Iceland Gull below Bobby Burke’s home. Every once and a while a Black Guillemot bobs in the water.

DECEMBER 14 – CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT

If you saw many people around town and by the harbour on December 14, they were participants in the annual bird count. I was excited to have 3 Song Sparrows, a Sharp-shinned Hawk, a Brown Creeper, a Golden-crowned Kinglet and a Grey Jay show up in my yard along with the regular birds. We also saw a Ruffed Grouse on Verrier Crescent at the top of the trail from Upper Warren street.

AT MY FEEDERS

I have up to 3 Pine Siskins and 3 Song Sparrows at the feeders as well as 40 Juncos before or after a snow storm. There are more than 60 American Goldfinch squabbling for food at any given time, either at the feeders or eating seed scattered on the ground. 5 Blue Jays sometimes appear as well as a flock of up to 24 Evening Grosbeaks. After the snow on January 8 we had 43 European Starlings and 5 Crows along with the Purple Finch (up to 3 pair), Mourning Doves, Song Sparrows, and American Goldfinch. On the weekend we were able to identify the cause of the sudden flight of birds AWAY from the feeders. It was the female Northern Harrier that seems to be patrolling many of the feeders in town. ABSENT THIS WINTER: The pair of Red-breasted Nuthatch never appeared.

ALONG the HIGHWAY

On January 2 we watched a Pair of Bald Eagles swoop and circle at the Catalone end of the New Boston Road on our way home from Sydney. We pulled in to the parking lot of the Catalone Recreation Centre for a better look. On our trips along Route 22 we have observed a Raven near Catalone and another between Morrison and Mira Road almost every trip.

DID YOU KNOW?

The female Northern Harrier that has stayed in town appears to be an oddity. Harriers usually begin their southern migration by early to mid-November and return to their nesting range in Canada by March or April. (J. K. Terres, The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds, Wing Books, 1995, p. 483)

"The harrier, formerly called the marsh hawk, is a bird of open spaces—marsh, meadow, old fields and grasslands. They only seldom perch in trees, preferring instead perching (and roosting) on the ground or on hummocks, fences, duck blinds or muskrat houses. … in winter (they) retire mostly to the lower 48 states. They usually move south from August through December…" "They are most often seen in winter in the Gulf Coast coastal marshes, Louisiana and Texas." "While harriers are mainly linked to mice and vole populations, they are opportunistic and may target birds." "Because harriers are polygamous, there are fewer males than females." (Clay Sutton & Patricia Taylor Sutton, How to Spot Hawks and Eagles, Chapters Publishing Ltd., 1996, pp. 110-112) 

Until next time, keep your eyes open, feeders full, and call me at 733-2873 with sightings.

Helen O’Shea

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

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