On Mother's Day I saw the first male
Common House Sparrow in the Verrier Crescent area. Until
this sighting, I have always noticed House Sparrows in the downtown area but never here. Perhaps now that we are more built up and there
are so many feeders the local pattern of birds is changing.
The day after Mother's Day there was a Chipping Sparrow in my yard. I also saw
three Dowitchers and a pair of Kingfishers on Havenside.
On May 13, Nicole Hardy and Darryl Peck saw the Little Egret near dusk. Diane MacLean reported the Grey Catbird was gone
by noon. It was first seen on May 11.
Pat Holland called to report a Northern
Flicker on May 15. Cyneth Hutt called on May 16 to report a White-Crowned Sparrow, 2
American Goldfinch, Pine Siskins, Black-Capped Chickadees and Juncoes. Sheila Fudge said
the Little Egret and Snowy Egret were still at the Havenside Barachois on May 15. That day I saw the Snowy Egret twice, a male and
female Northern Harrier at the Royal Battery and the bottom of the Compound Road. Bill saw a Northern Mockingbird in the latter
location on his way home after work. We also
saw a Kingfisher, Great Blue Heron, 5 Double-Crested Cormorants and 2 Greater Yellowlegs
at the Fortress Barachois.
On a sunny Friday, May 17, Pearl Magee
reported a pair of White-Crowned Sparrows, a young male Northern Oriole, a male
Yellow-Rumped Warbler, a pair of nesting Robins, and a Savannah Sparrow. Gwen Lunn and Cyneth Hutt also reported
White-Crowned Sparrows.
I saw 9 mature and 3 immature Ring-Billed
Gulls in Louisbourg Harbour. There were also
5 Cormorants and dozens of Herring Gulls.
May 18 was overcast with showers but
proved to be great weather for birding. In
Little Lorraine and Louisbourg Bill and I saw a pair of Red-Breasted Mergansers. We also spotted a male Kingfisher, 3
Double-Crested Cormorants, Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron and a Yellow-Rumped Warbler at
the Havenside Barachois. In Main a Dieu we saw a pair of Ring-Necked Ducks, a female
Kingfisher and a GREAT EGRET in breeding plumage. The
Great Egret posed for 10 minutes or more since there was no traffic to disturb it. At Catalone Gut we saw a Common Loon, 2 American
Black Ducks, 2 Tree Swallows, a Red-Winged Blackbird, a female Northern Harrier and a male
Rose-Breasted Grosbeak. Florence Miron saw the Great Egret at Main a Dieu on May 19.
On May 19, I spotted a Swamp Sparrow in a
tree at the Havenside Barachois and a Great Blue Heron.
Pat Mullins reported a Kingfisher and Carlo Lunn reported that his family watched a
female American Black Duck and her 11 ducklings (like fluffballs) cross the road at
Station Hill from the Barachois to swim in the drainage ditch below Andrew Barter's house. The Red-Breasted Nuthatches were chattering at
Bill and Patrick as they worked in our yard.
Amid the showers and cool weather at the
KOA Campground in Baddeck, Pearl Magee reported an abundance of Yellow-Rumped Warblers, a
pair of Brown Creepers, Hairy Woodpeckers, Chipping and White-Crowned Sparrows, Partridge,
Finches and Juncoes. She saw Blue Teal, Bald
Eagles, and 4 pair of Canada Geese - one pair had 5 goslings and the other pair had 7. She also saw Plovers.
Brent Baker had a male Rose-Breasted
Grosbeak at his feeder last week.
May 22, Gordon and Diane Maclean had a
male Rose-Breasted Grosbeak at their feeder. I
also saw a Magnolia Warbler and a Ruffed Grouse while walking by the water tower.
May 23, the women from the Costume
Department on Verrier Crescent called to report a Common (Yellow-Shafted) Flicker on the
lawn. Diane MacLean had two of these birds
for several days and also had 2 male Rose-Breasted Grosbeak at her feeders at the same
time - the local record for this year so far. Later she had a female Rose-Breasted
Grosbeak as well. She also had a female
Evening Grosbeak with a beak the colour of lime Koolaid.
During the snow, showers and ice pellets
of May 25 a pair of Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds appeared at my feeder. I observed a Brown Creeper, Robins, Goldfinch,
Blue Jays, Grackles, Pine Siskins, Starlings, and a Merlin (Pigeon Hawk) at Greta
Beaver's.
Rosie and Raymond Lahey reported a male
Scarlet Tanager beside the Bateston Road at 7 p.m.
Bill O'Shea was on Scaterie May 26. He saw a Green Heron, a Male Rose-Breasted
Grosbeak, several hundred Common Eiders, 2 Gannets and 50-60 Double-Crested Cormorants.
Ella Blagdon reported a male Ruby-Throated
Hummingbird at the feeder and a Red-Winged Blackbird on May 27. My Hummingbirds were at the blooms on the branches
of the maple tree as well as at the feeder. Pearl Magee reported the return of her male
Ruby-Throated Hummingbird. Susann Myers reported a pair of Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds,
also a pair of Rose-Breasted Grosbeak, White-Crowned Sparrow, and a White-Winged
Crossbill.
On May 28, Diane MacLean reported a male
Northern Oriole. Ralph Savory reported a White-Crowned Sparrow and 9 dead baby Sparrows
which he speculates were pushed out of the nest after perishing during the cold weather on
the weekend.
May 29, I sighted a Swainson's Thrush on
the picnic table in my backyard. A female
Northern Oriole was in our maple tree.That afternoon Gerry Lunn, Dave MacCorquedale, and
John MacKay showed up to ask about area birds. I
told them about the Scarlet Tanager, Northern Orioles, and the 3 Egrets. Gwen Lunn called
to report a female Wilson's Warbler that was just outside her window.
May 30, a pair of Swainson's Thrush were
hopping about in the rain. This bird has a
yellow eye ring and more yellow at the neck than a Veery.
Pearl Magee reported a White-Throated
Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow and a Black and White Warbler on May 31. During her weekend in
the Baddeck River area she saw: a female
Goldeneye with 8 ducklings, Black-Throated Green Warbler, female Magnolia Warbler,
Yellow-Rumped Warblers, lots of Blue-Winged Teal, nesting Canada Geese.
Carter Stevens has had a Northern
Mockingbird for a couple of weeks. It hops
across his lawn in Big Lorraine like a Robin.
Susann Myers reported an Indigo Bunting
eating millet in her yard. June 4 she had a
male and two female Northern Orioles. They
are eating oranges.
The Barn Swallows and Cliff Swallows are
back at the Fortress site. The warm weather
after the dampness has brought out the insects in abundance. The swallows are swooping to decrease the black
fly population!
June 3, Beecher Magee and his family
observed a Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher on his front lawn about 5:30 p.m. The rust under its wings was visible in flight. He also had a Mourning Dove and Cedar
Waxwings.
Pearl Magee now has a pair of
Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds. Cyneth and Gordon Hutt called me on June 9 to report male and
female Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds and also that the Snowy Egret is still in the Havenside
Barachois.
RING-NECKED
DUCK
"Ringbill"
is the name hunters have given this diving duck of forested ponds and bogs, for the two
white rings on its bill are fr more visible than its brownish collar. A powerful swimmer, the Ring-Necked Duck can
forage to depths of 40 feet in search of plant and animal fare. (John K. Terres, The Audubon Encyclopedia of
North American Birds, Random House, 1995, page 202)
GREAT
EGRET
Other names for this bird are angel bird,
big plume bird, white crane. (Terres, 1995, p.49) The
breeding adult has long filamentous plumes down back, extending well past the tail. The bill is yellow to orange and daggerlike. Legs and feet are black. The Great Egret is from
37 to 41 inches long with a wingspread of about 55 inches. That makes this bird just
slightly smaller than a Great Blue Heron and almost twice as big as our little Snowy Egret
at Havenside.
North American
Migratory Bird Count 1996
On a wet and cool May 11, 1996 the North
American Migratory Bird Count took place with 15 participants in the Louisbourg Area. Judy Tufts, daughter of Robie Tufts who was author
of Birds of Nova Scotia is the provincial co-ordinator.
Birds seem to thrive in miserable weather
and the observers spotted 67 species. A warm
thank you to the following individuals for their efforts:
Jean Bagnell, Dianne Bussey, Peter Chaisson, Sheila Fudge, Gwendolen Lunn, Minnie
MacLeod, Pearl Magee, Billy Mailman, Cathy Mailman, Francis Mailman, Sandy McLain, Susann
Myers (the 1996 Bird Count Coordinator), Doug Pearl, Lee Anne Reeves, and Ron White.
Some of the more unusual species on the
count were the following: Snowy Egret, Little
Egret, Black-Legged Kittiwake, Long-Eared Owl, Hermit Thrush, Ruby-Throated Hummingbird,
Ring-Necked Pheasant, American Kestrel.
126 American Robins, 98 Double-Crested
Cormorants, 30 American Black Duck, 4 Green-Winged Teal, 3 Bald Eagles, 10 Ruffed Grouse,
28 Black Guillemot, 10 Belted Kingfisher, 16 Yellow-Shafted Flicker, 3 Tree Swallows, 89
American Crows, 24 Red-Breasted Nuthatch, 6 Ruby-Crowned Kinglets, 128 European Starlings,
10 Yellow-Rumped Warblers, 163 Dark-Eyed Juncoes, 19 White-Winged Crossbills, 64 Pine
Siskins, 8 Evening Grosbeak, 22 House Sparrows.
As you can see by the above list and birds
reported for the FOR THE BIRDS column-- we see most of these birds just in our day to day
observations.
Two very useful
books if you are interested in identification are the following: Peterson Field Guides: Eastern Birds by Roger Tory Peterson; An
Audubon Handbook: Eastern Birds by John
Farrand Jr. This last book is excellent for
identifying all those confusing shore birds.
Call me throughout the summer with your
exciting sightings. Let me know as soon as
possible so we can get a glimpse. 733-2873 Will write all summer sightings up in the
September SEAGULL. Happy Birding!
Helen
O’Shea
Extracted
from © The Seagull, Helen O'Shea, For the Birds
