FOR THE BIRDS

May 1995

By

Helen O'Shea

Gwen Lunn reported the last Fox Sparrow of the season in her yard on April 24.  My last Fox Sparrow left April 20 and Pearl Magee's on April 15.  Fifteen Fox Sparrows were in our yard April 12. 

The black caps on the American Goldfinch were visible by April 11 and the males are so bright that they live up to their name "wild canaries". Gladys Fiander saw a flock of these birds the second week of May in her yard.  

We watched five crows chase a hawk at Mira. Obviously there is bravery in numbers.   

A male and female Northern Harrier were seen at the Administration Compound Road on April 19.  They have been see near George D. Lewis School and over the fields near the Royal Battery. 

I saw my first Cormorant for the season flying over Lorway on April 16. They have been flying in flocks of five and eight. 

More people are sighting the male Pheasant. Joey Magee saw it in his field on April 11 and Bill saw it at the Visitor Centre on May 6. The week before that it had passed through Red MacKeigan's yard and also was seen by Murray Billard, once in his yard and another time by James Kennedy's house. It made it's way to the Housing Area at the head of Lorway Street. Olive Spawn had to stop her car to let it cross the road from the rink area. 

Winston and Joey Magee have been watching a pair of Common Loons and a pair of Great Blue Herons at the pond across from the Marconi Picnic Area. On April 30 we heard the first calls of a loon from the woods behind Gary Carter's house. These calls have continued from early in the morning until dusk. 

Pearl Magee spotted an Eastern Phoebe the April 19. It was around her feeders for a day and a half. This bird was as big as a Fox Sparrow.   

Sheila Fudge saw a Catbird in her yard on April 18. She described it as a good-looking bird with a horrible voice. 

Bill and I walked up the Old French Road. We saw a pair of Golden-Crowned Kinglets and a Spruce Grouse. Susann Myers saw a pair of Ruby-Crowned Kinglets at the Administration Building on May 5 and also a Kestrel. The same day she saw 3 Palm Warblers, 3 Savannah Sparrows in front of the Museum at the Fortress and a Greater Yellowlegs in the pond behind the firehall. She also saw 4 Great Blue Herons flying overhead. 

Roger Wilson, Susann and myself have all seen White-Crowned Sparrows and Roger also had a White-Throated Sparrow on April 27. 

Ian Harte saw an Osprey at the Havenside Barachois on May 4. 

We saw a Yellow-Rumped (Myrtle) Warbler flying around Sadie Mrazek's yard on May 6.   

Pearl Magee has had a Merlin (Pigeon Hawk) swooping through her yard several times daily.  He was probably the same bird that I saw swooping through the yard at the S&L Railway Museum on April 20. 

Sandy McLain, Chief Park Warden at the Fortress, saw a Red-Tailed Hawk the last week of April while he was checking boundaries near Kavanaugh Lake. 

  MIGRATORY BIRD COUNT TO BE DONE NORTH-AMERICA WIDE ON MAY 13, 1995.

Several people in Louisbourg will be observing birds and recording data. This will be the first participation by people on Cape Breton Island. The data will be mailed to Judy Tufts (daughter of Robie Tufts who wrote Birds of Nova Scotia) in Wolfville, Nova Scotia who will tally the data for our province. Our findings will be reported in the June edition of the Seagull. 

While walking through the town we notice a lot of Hummingbird Feeders outside. Please make a note of your first arrival and let me know the date. The first arrival will be in the June Seagull. 

RING-NECKED PHEASANT 

The Ring-Necked Pheasant is an introduced species and survives depending on suitable winter habitat and whether the birds are fed artificially in winter.  There are about 1500 breeding pairs in Nova Scotia.  Wallace Barter told Bill that Steve Drake and Barty Kennedy have raised pheasants in the past and that some of these escaped or were released.  Maybe this is the origin of our pheasant. 

During the season of plenty the diet of the pheasant consists mainly of grain, weed seeds, fruits and insects. 

ADULT MALE:  Length: 90 cm.  Strikingly coloured, with a long, narrow gracefully pointed tail 30-45 cm long.  The back is marked in a beautiful complicated pattern, with deep maroon, cream, ochre, black and metallic emerald-green.  Breast is a solid, rich copper-bronze with violet reflections, each feather tipped with black; abdomen black; rich ochre on flanks; head and neck, except crown, brilliantly steely black with a more or less complete white collar (sometimes lacking entirely) around neck.  Face is largely bare red skin; crown is metallic green-ochre.  ADULT FEMALE:  Entirely unlike the male; her tail is considerably shorter and her plumage is variegated browns and grays with underparts pale fawn. 

The last Seagull until the fall will be published in June. Please keep your calls coming through the summer months and write down anything you see that I can include in the September edition of the Seagull.

Helen O’Shea

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

Return to the Previous page

Retour à la  page précédente