FOR THE BIRDS ~ NOVEMBER 1996

If you have looked around your neighbourhood you will see that there are fewer cones on the trees and almost no berries on the mountain ash. After a bumper crop last year the birds will have difficulty finding adequate beaksful of food. It will be a major commitment if you decide to feed the birds this winter since they will depend on your feeders for survival.

The jury is still out on a new brand of birdseed on the market that is advertised to be squirrel-proof. It is treated with cayenne pepper which does not bother the birds but should cause problems if the squirrel rubs its eyes with its paws. Wash your hands thoroughly after filling the feeder. You don’t want burning eyes either. The feed, called “Dr. Dunn’s Wild Bird Seed”, is available at Mabou Gardens.

SIGHTINGS - Carlo Lunn called in late October to report a Pileated Woodpecker that he watched fly across the highway and down the road near the Whispering Pines Trailer Park.

” This bird is a spectacular black crow-sized woodpecker with a flaming-red crest. The female has a blackish forehead and lacks the red on the mustache. The great size, sweeping wingbeats, and flashing white underwing areas identify the Pileated Woodpecker in flight. The diggings, large oval or oblong holes, indicate its presence.” (Roger Tory Peterson,Eastern Birds p.188) According to Robie Tufts this bird is becoming more common in Nova Scotia since it breeds in this province. It is generally restricted to old -growth woodlands and disperses over the countryside in late autumn. The bird eats wood-boring ants. It is by far the largest of our woodpeckers. Carlo’s vivid description was “a boat in flight”.

Pearl Magee had a Common Snipe in the drainage ditch the last weekend of October.

Susann Myers called to report a Baltimore Oriole at her feeder. She also has a flock of approximately 25 Evening Grosbeaks and a Hairy Woodpecker. Her last sighting of a Yellow-Rumped Warbler was near the end of October.

While on our walk the last weekend of October, Bill and I watched the Hairy Woodpecker chase away several Evening Grosbeaks that were perched in a tree at the end of Susann’s driveway.

Susann saw a couple of Greater Yellowlegs and a Great Blue Heron at the Fortress Barachois near dusk. She also saw a couple of Black-Bellied Plover. Shore birds are not as plentiful as last autumn. Many trips past the Havenside Barachois have resulted in few sightings of the Greater Yellowlegs.

November 2, I observed two Cormorants in flight at the Fortress Barachois. Six were seen earlier in the week on the large rocks off Havenside, but most migrated in early October.

Since hanging two feeders in the yard several Black-Capped Chickadees, a pair of Red-Breasted Nuthatch, and several Blue Jays have been visiting. There are a few Juncoes.

While walking around town, I have noticed that Common House Sparrows and Blue Jays are the most common birds at the feeders. There are a couple of large flocks of Starlings and Crows are very plentiful. I don’t know what goodies (grubs probably) are in the lawn beside Kevin Donovan’s trailer, but the Crows have been digging up the sods and munching there for the past month.

TIP FOR SAVING YOUR WET BIRDSEED - If you discover your seed has become damp you should spread it to dry immediately. Spread it out on newspaper in the basement. If it remains wet in the feeder for several days it will become mouldy and\or sprout. This is messy to clean and dangerous for the birds. After discarding spoiled seed it will be necessary to scour and thoroughly clean the feeder with the mixture of bleach and water that appeared in the October Seagull.

CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT - The second annual Christmas Bird Count for Louisbourg and area will be held on Saturday, December 21, 1996. Organizers are looking forward to a repeat of last year’s stunning success! A Christmas Bird Count is a one-day census of birds found within a 15-mile diameter circle. First begun in 1900 in the USA, Christmas Bird Counts now number over 1650 each year, throughout Canada and the USA, as well as Central and South America. Birdwatchers can participate either by counting birds at feeders in their own yards or as “field observers”, counting birds in organized parties within the 15-mile diameter count circle.

To help sharpen our birding skills prior to count day, a morning of bird-watching is being organized for December 7th, in the Louisbourg area. Experienced birders willaccompany parties of birders and would-be birders in the field for a couple of hours, to practice bird-finding and identification. If you have been wondering what the birdsare called that you see around you, this is the morning for you--birdwatchers at all skilllevels are welcome.

If you are interested in either the birding morning December 7th or the Christmas Bird Count, please contact Susann Myers at 733-2805 (evenings).

THE GLOBE AND MAIL for November 2 states that there are record crops of cones, berries and fruit in Northern Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. At least the birds in those provinces will have a great winter.