-
Judy
and Manning Burke reported a flock of 25 to 30 Snow Buntings at their feeder
in February. They arrived twice
daily. Perhaps these are the Snow
Buntings that in previous years were seen on the ocean side of Catalone Gut
road. Now that a large berm of
gravel has been deposited on the ocean side to protect the road, they may have
moved across the road. The Burkes
also watch Black-capped Chickadees, Blue Jays, American Goldfinch, and 2
mature Bald Eagles on the point. February
28, Judy reported a White-throated Sparrow and a Chipping Sparrow at her
feeder.
-
Bill
O’Shea saw 2 female Ring-necked Pheasants at the foot of the compound road
(Route 22 and Park Service Road) on February 12.
-
Arthur
Perry reported that there has been a Snowy Owl in the trees at the back of his
property and a pair of Ring-necked Pheasants are in the yard.
They wait to be fed.
-
Pearl
Magee watched 8 Pine Grosbeaks eating cones on the tops of the trees in her
yard on March 1. She also had 2
Grackles and a Gray Jay. On Feb.
15 she had 9 American Robins.
-
Cyneth
and Gordon Hutt reported that the Fox Sparrow was still at their feeder on
February 26 and they also had a Canada Jay visit. Usually Blue Jays are dominant.
-
Darryl
Peck mentioned that this time of year there are usually a large numer of
Common Mergansers at Catalone Gut Bridge.
He doesn’t think that they will dredge the opening to the Gut under
the bridge and speculates that there might be little movement of fish into
that area from the ocean side. He
reports lots of activity at Mira
River with Common Goldeneye, Mergansers, and quite a few Bald Eagles sitting
on the ice. They are easier to
observe when driving a truck. The
height enables one to see over the snowbanks.
-
Gary
Peck saw a male Red-breasted Merganser in the brook behind his house on Feb.
13.
-
Pauline
Kelly saw a Canada Goose in the
harbour the weekend of March 3.
-
Doug
Pearl saw 12 Loons trapped by the ice in the cove near Lemoine’s wharf
on March 9.
-
Susann
Myers reported 5 Red Crossbills and 2 American Tree Sparrows in her yard March
3. It makes one feel hopeful that
spring is on the way.
-
Leo
Carter saw 300 Canada Geese in the ocean at Mira Gut at bottom of Horne’s
Road near the end of February.
-
Shirley
MacKeigan called on February 16 to report an American Robin in her yard.
At
My Feeders and In the Yard
Remember
the rain of February 10th followed by a freeze?
That day an American Robin appeared in the yard.
When all the birds quickly disappeared we looked up in one tree to see
a Northern Shrike. From 40 American Goldfinch on February 10 we now are lucky
to have four or five at the feeders. Pine Siskin numbers have grown
dramatically. There are at least
20 each day. These small birds are feisty and not only scrap with each other
but with any other finch that tries to use the niger seed feeders.
The Siskins’yellow wing
patches are much more colourful now and the American Goldfinch are much
brighter yellow and the black caps are beginning to appear. A sure sign of
spring. The female Hairy Woodpecker is at the suet feeder daily -sometimes in
competition with a Starling. One
of the Starlings was so persistent that one afternoon we watched it fly up and
work its way under the feeder roof and over the top of the plexiglass side to
get right inside the feeder.
Forty
Mourning Doves arrive in early morning and late afternoon.
On
March 3, Bill and I watched a male Merlin in the fir tree at the foot of our
yard. We wondered why the birds
disappeared so quickly. The
Merlin waited patiently on the branch for about fifteen minutes.
One lone Junco sat quietly in the rosebush near the tree.
The Merlin was obviously watching the Junco and tried to get at it
through the thorny branches. Fortunately for the Junco he failed. We last saw
the Merlin flying over the yard of Linda and Phillip Burke.
All
but one female Purple Finch have disappeared for other locations.
Around
the Harbour
On
the morning of March 3 there were
50 White-winged Scoters swimming toward the middle of the harbour.
They were in open water below Olive Shaw’s. Susann Myers saw a Black
Scoter in a flock of 30 White-winged Scoters later that same day.
She also counted 3 Loons.
March
10 on the ice in the harbour off Point of View we saw a deer stranded on the
ice. Maureen Burke alerted us to
this situation at the Fire Department’s Pancake Breakfast. Many people
watched the event unfolding. Natural Resouces came out but could do nothing.
The only hope is that the ice will move out and open the water for the deer to swim ashore.
Along
the Highway
Bill
and I saw 4 Bald Eagles, 2 mature and 2 immature, flying overhead at Catalone
on February 27. March 9 there
were two mature Bald Eagles on the ice at the rim of the open water at Albert
Bridge. Gary Peck told me that they have been seen catching ducks.
In
Search of a Good Time
I
got a call from Marie Ayre of Framboise on March 5. She is the sister of Ruth Stevens. Dougie told her to give me a call. Marie had a very unusual tale that took place around 10 p.m.
Saturday, March 3 at the Community Hall in Forchu.
A dart game was underway and the room was getting warm so someone
opened a window to let fresh air into the hall.
Along with the fresh air what should come flying into interrupt the
game but a female Red-Breasted
Merganser. It flopped about on
the floor in a disoriented way until someone carefully gathered it up and
removed it to a nearby snowbank. What
was it doing flying in the dark? Imagine
the shock of arriving on a brightly lit, people-filled room. Maybe it was in search of excitement after a long, cold
winter. The book, Waterfowl by Steve Madge and Hilary Burn describes
the Red-breasted Merganser as being a “sociable duck of tidal waters”
(p.278). Was the female
Red-breasted Merganser was merely living up to its sociable reputation?
Actually,
the harbour was blocked with ice in Forchu and Marie mentioned that she had
seen a female Merganser in a puddle of water on the pavement on the side of
the road earlier in the day at Capelin Cove Road outside Forchu.
Friends also reported a Merganser at the side of the road in Westmount
that same day. Would icy water
conditions cause these birds, seeking open water, to tire during a prolonged
flight and lead them to land in the first convenient open area?
New
Arrivals
Keep
watching for Fox Sparrows. They should be arriving soon.
The storms to the east may lead to unusual sightings in the area.
But be careful, some of the “new” birds may just be the winter
regulars in breeding plumage.
Enjoy your spring birding and call me with your
new sightings.
