FOR THE BIRDS

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• Betty Beaver had a tree swallow on her property May 16.
• Victor Anderson mentioned that the tree swallows and hummingbirds were late arriving this year.
• Bill O'Shea watched 2 Belted Kingfishers near Carlo Lunn's wharf on May 21.
• Mary Mahoney had a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird arrive on May 22.
• Pearl Magee had a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird arrive on May 24 as did Mary Mahoney. By June 3 there were 2 female hummingbirds and a Hairy Woodpecker at Pearl's home. She has seen the hummingbird mating dance on three separate occasions. Pearl also had a Canadian Warbler at her feeders.
• Helen O'Shea had a male Yellow-rumped Warbler in her maple tree.
• Dorothy Magee had a Yellow-rumped Warbler arrive on May 25.
• Bill O'Shea reported Barn Swallows & Cliff Swallows on the Fortress the end of May.
• Yellow-shafted Flickers are everywhere-in the trees and at the sides of the roads in Louisbourg, along Route 22, up the Administration Service Road.

At my feeders

A male Rose-breasted Grosbeak was here on the day of the Spring Migratory Bird Count, May 14 and hung around for a couple of days. That same day we had 2 Blue Jays, 20 Pine Siskins, 2 Song Sparrows, 2 American Crows, 9 American Goldfinch, 3 Black-capped Chickadees, an American Robin, 2 Grackles, a Purple Finch, 7 Mourning Doves and a Cormorant flying overhead. There was a lot of activity considering the snow on the ground, trees and cars from the previous night.

Around the harbour

Leaving the Fortress site on the last visitor bus on June 1 there were 6 Greater Yellowlegs at low tide. The visitors commented on the Cormorants, Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls and the American Black Ducks that they had observed. In that same area the week before there were 8 Red-breasted Mergansers and one Greater Yellowlegs.

Along the highway

Low-flying American Robins and Blue Jays seem to dice with death as they swoop in front of cars. There are a number of Juncos, Goldfinch, Pine Siskins and Black-capped Chickadees in flight. Warblers are visible but watching them too closely could lead to a major accident. There are usually at least a dozen Cormorants on the lines at Albert Bridge. I watched one land and it was a spectacle. These birds are not very graceful and seem to struggle to hover a bit and then gain a foothold on the utility line. They continue to flap until both feet are settled securely.

Have a great summer birding and look out for any avian free-falling gifts from the sky.

Helen O’Shea

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

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