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Sorry everyone. Must stop using this particular program. It doesn't have the
prompts I rely upon.
B
----- Forwarded message from abmoores@chebucto.ns.ca -----
Date: Mon, 04 Sep 2006 22:11:06 -0300
From: Bernice Moores <abmoores@chebucto.ns.ca>
Reply-To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Brier Island and Annapolis Valley highlights
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
Hi Ruth
I'm planning a trip to Brier to arrive on Saturday the 16th and stay for a few
days to observe raptor migration, do a pelagic, etc. The 17th is usually the
height of raptor migration. Would you be interested in going?
Cheers
B
Quoting Bob McDonald <bobathome@hfx.eastlink.ca>:
> Hello All,
>
> Wendy and I spent 4 days (Tues - Fri) travelling to and from and
> exploring Brier Island last week. Highlights of our venture are
> summarized below.
>
> French Basin Trail in Annapolis Royal on Tues - immatures of several
> families of Pied-billed Grebes, Northern Shovellor, Wood Ducks,
> Ring-necked Ducks, Northern Harrier, both species of Teal and a
> total of about 40 shorebirds including Least and Semipalm Sandpiper,
> both Yellowlegs, SB Dowitcher and Wilson's Snipe. On Fri on our
> return from Brier, we again walked the trail to find fewer ducks and
> shorebirds but we added Osprey, GB Heron, American Bittern and a Sora
> to our species list for this terrific spot! No swallows were evident
> on either visit.
>
> On Brier, migration especially of warblers and empid flycatchers was
> as frantic as I've ever seen it there. The banding operation was in
> full swing and on Wed they processed over 300 birds. On the previous
> Sunday, they banded over 450 birds which the most ever in a single
> day on record. It is worth noting here that this station has been
> operating for nearly 30 years now so a significant amount of data is
> available to enable researchers to look for population changes during
> this period. Lance indicated that nothing too rare or unusual had
> been found; what was amazing was simply the volume of birds! We
> observed about a dozen warbler species with Wilson's being
> particularly abundant and empids were everywhere with Yellow-bellied
> being the commonest. The "best" bird for us were sightings of two
> separate Philadelphia Vireos!
>
> There were not a huge number of shorebirds on the Ponds but notable
> were 2 Baird's Sandpipers and one Pectoral Sandpiper on the ocean
> beach at Pond Cove. A pelagic trip with Roy and Penny Graham of
> Mariner Cruises was outstanding as always - we saw a few Puffins
> along with thousands (tens of thousands...?) of Phalaropes;
> Red-necked were the predominant species but a few Reds were in the
> mix. Both Storm-petrels were seen with Wilson's the major species.
> One surprise was how few Shearwaters were observed and they were all
> Greaters. But the highlight of this outing was for sure the two
> humpback whales which breached one after the other about 50 m off the
> starboard side. Awesome! I was so amazed that I forgot to take a
> picture!! The sunset over the Bay as we headed back to Westport was
> breath-taking!
>
> Several Monarchs and many Orange Sulphurs were the most noteworthy
> leps while all the ponds we visited had at least a few odes, the
> largest of which are the Darners. Common Green, Shadow, Canada and
> Variable Darners were all observed. I made no attempt to ID the
> several spreadwings, bluets and meadowhawks. Another ode with a very
> long flight period is the Eastern Forktail - we saw them on Brier and
> I observed my first one this year on May 28 or so.
>
> We stayed overnight in Granville Ferry (or Granville Centre) at the
> Croft House B & B which we can recommend for price, ambiance and the
> superb breakfast!! They welcomed us to walk around the grounds (they
> have a DU-built pond a 5-minute walk from the house) where there were
> lots of birds. On leaving there on Fri AM we proceeded to Delaps
> Cove and walked the Bohaker Trail - we had been wanting to do that
> for years. A few warblers were seen but not much else. A lovely
> walk indeed!
>
> Regards,
>
> Bob McDonald
> Halifax
>
----- End forwarded message -----
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