FOR THE BIRDS

OCTOBER  2002

By

Helen O'Shea

SIGHTINGS

• Louise Johnston saw a Belted Kingfisher in the ditch outside the postern tunnel at the Fortress on September 8—the day after I wondered where the kingfishers had gone.

• Sheila and Tom Fudge first saw a juvenile Snowy Egret on lawn of Marlene and George Taylor on September 12.

• Marlene Taylor reported this Snowy Egret to Pearl Magee.

• Ian Harte reported a Snowy Egret on the drawbridge railing at the entry bridge to the Fortress on the evening of September 13. He also reported a Great Horned Owl at Kennington Cove. September 17 he watched 2 young Hooded Mergansers and a hen Mallard in the pond behind the fire hall at the Fortress.

• Sheila Fudge reported a much larger white bird in the Havenside Barachois.

• Fabian Burke confirmed this bird was there on September 14.

• Terry Allen told us about the two white birds when he delivered the Sunday Herald. We went over early September 15 with the spotting scope and saw a Great Egret in the water. It later flew overhead in a co-operative way so we could observe the black legs and feet. In the long grass was a juvenile Snowy Egret.

• Louis Ferguson spoke to us at the Grubstake on Sept. 20 about the Egrets at Havenside.

• Jean and Joseph Bagnell had watched 30 Curlews flying off Lighthouse Point in mid-August. They also saw a Great Egret at Forchu the weekend of September 21.

• Karen Skinner reported a mother Black Duck with 8 Ducklings. She also has been watching the Great Egret and gets her grandfather Burns MacMillan to help her identify the birds.

• John MacLean reported a pair of Mallard Ducks in pond near Black Rock on September 25.

• Gary Peck reported 3 Yellow-shafted Flickers spending hours eating bugs on his lawn in Catalone during the third week in September.

• Pearl Magee reported a Baltimore Oriole making at least 3 appearances in her yard in September. September 27 she called to report a Lark Sparrow in her yard eating grit or seeds in her driveway. It was with a flock of Juncos. When we went up her driveway about 6:30 pm. this juvenile Lark Sparrow was still there with several Mourning Doves. The last time I saw a juvenile Lark Sparrow was on October 5, 1999. It was eating millet under Pearl’s feeder. On her way to work Pearl saw a male Hairy Woodpecker at the S & L Station.

• Julie Leahy called me at noon on September 13 to report an unusual bird that her father had been watching since early morning in Little Lorraine. Bill and I went down there with our binoculars, books, and a keen interest to see such an unusual bird since it was described as black and white with bright orange-red feet and bill. Howard Burke was keeping an eye on the bird when Fabian Burke guided us to the boat launch just beyond the home of the Perrys. We were able to walk within 5 feet of the bird which moved a minimal amount. Right away I identified it as a Black Skimmer. We took digital photos of the bird and posted the sighting on Nature Nova Scotia. It went out as a rare bird alert. Cathy Murrant called to say she and her husband Allan had seen Skimmers in Florida. Susann Myers also said she was in Florida when she saw this bird. Sad news: The next day, all that remained was a pile of feathers, the beak and feet. Clarence Stevens reported the sighting in the Sunday Daily News on September 22 . Little Lorraine also yielded a dozen Eastern Kingbirds. They were on the power lines and eating bugs in the trees and on the angelica.

AROUND THE HARBOUR

Fortress Barachois - On September 22, I saw a number of birds in late afternoon. They were well within range of the scope and the sunny day made their colours very visible. There was a Surf Scoter, 6 Green-winged Teal, a Great Blue Heron fishing in the shallows, 3 Black Guillemots, a Dovekie, and a female Northern Harrier flying overhead. Double-crested Cormorants and Great Cormorants were in the shallows, on rocks and in flight. Red-breasted Mergansers swam offshore and 8 Semi-palmated Plovers ran over the flats.

Havenside Barachois - 9 Red-breasted Mergansers were fishing on September 21. A Belted Kingfisher kept them company. The Great Egret was fishing at the water’s edge. It then landed in a tree and perched beside a tree with a Great Blue Heron. The Great Egret is much slimmer, sleeker in appearance, and has a thinner bill than the Great Blue Heron. The Great Egret appeared to be eating bugs as it perched. It was still at the barachois on September 22. During torrential rains and high winds the morning of September 28, I saw two mature Bald Eagles sheltering in a tree. Dripping wet, they were not as majestic as usual.

AROUND THE TOWN

There is a popular puddle behind the General Store where a flock of Starlings are seen bathing and Crows have been seen drinking and bathing in the same puddle. Why do we always worry about how clean the water is in our birdbaths?

ENJOY THE ARRIVALS OF AUTUMN. UNTIL NEXT MONTH. 

Helen O’Shea

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

Return to the Previous page

Retour à la  page précédente