[NatureNS] Pond Cove, Brier Island shorebirds, plus Greater Shearwater question

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From: "Andy Moir/Christine Callaghan" <slickdog1@gmail.com>
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Date: Tue, 2 Aug 2011 15:41:19 -0300
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Hi,

Is it odd that on one day you would see 98 Herring Gulls, and the next =
only two? They are usually all over the place.

A couple of nights ago some kids in Tiverton at the other end of Long =
Island called to tell me they had a bird that had been "wobbling" in the =
middle of the road. They didn't know what it was, or what to do with it. =
I drove up and discovered they had a Greater Shearwater. I took it down =
to Beautiful Cove in Freeport, and after checking that its wings and =
legs weren't broken, and that other than some ruffled feathers on its =
head, it didn't have any obvious injuries, I tossed it into the water. I =
expected that it would immediately swim out and then take off, as has =
been my previous experience with a few Shearwaters. Instead, it flapped =
its wings, then swam back to shore. I caught it and tried again, but =
once again it came ashore. The rocks were far too slippery to continue =
the exercise, so I just wished it well and hoped the coyotes wouldn't be =
patrolling the beach that night. Early the next morning, there was no =
sign of it.

Any theories as to why it wouldn't head offshore to safety?

Chris


  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Richard Stern=20
  To: NatureNS=20
  Sent: Tuesday, August 02, 2011 3:01 PM
  Subject: [NatureNS] Pond Cove, Brier Island shorebirds


  Hi,

  Here are the birds I counted at and then after high tide on Sun. and =
Mon. at Pond Cove.

  Jul 31, 2011 12:35 PM - 1:52 PM
  Protocol: Traveling
  3.0 kilometer(s)
  14 species

  Common Eider  111
  Double-crested Cormorant  10
  Great Blue Heron  8
  Semipalmated Plover  50
  Greater Yellowlegs  5
  Willet  2
  Ruddy Turnstone  10
  Semipalmated Sandpiper  500
  Least Sandpiper  50
  Pectoral Sandpiper  1
  Herring Gull  98
  Great Black-backed Gull  9
  American Crow  2
  Common Yellowthroat  2

  Aug 1, 2011 2:35 PM - 4:50 PM
  Protocol: Traveling
  2.0 kilometer(s)
  14 species

  Common Eider  100
  Northern Harrier  1
  Semipalmated Plover  250
  Killdeer  2
  Greater Yellowlegs  3
  Lesser Yellowlegs  4
  Ruddy Turnstone  5
  Semipalmated Sandpiper  200
  Least Sandpiper  50
  Pectoral Sandpiper  1
  Short-billed Dowitcher  20
  Herring Gull  2
  Great Black-backed Gull  9
  Song Sparrow  1

  Richard
  --=20
  #################
  Richard Stern,=20
  317 Middle Dyke Rd.
  Port Williams, NS, Canada
  B0P 1T0

  sternrichard@gmail.com
  ###################

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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1" =
http-equiv=3DContent-Type>
<META name=3DGENERATOR content=3D"MSHTML 8.00.6001.19088">
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>Hi,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>Is it odd that on one day you would see =
98 Herring=20
Gulls, and the next only two? They are usually all over the =
place.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>A couple of nights ago some kids in =
Tiverton at the=20
other end of Long Island called to tell me they had a bird that had been =

"wobbling" in the middle of the road. They didn't know what it was, or =
what to=20
do with it. I drove up and discovered they had a Greater Shearwater. I =
took it=20
down to Beautiful Cove in Freeport, and after checking that its wings =
and legs=20
weren't broken, and that other than some ruffled feathers on its head,=20
it&nbsp;didn't have any obvious injuries, I tossed it into the water. I =
expected=20
that it would immediately swim out and then take off, as has been my =
previous=20
experience with a few Shearwaters. Instead, it flapped its wings, then =
swam back=20
to shore. I caught it and tried again, but once again it came ashore. =
The rocks=20
were far too slippery to continue the exercise, so I just wished it well =
and=20
hoped the coyotes wouldn't be patrolling the beach that night. Early the =
next=20
morning, there was no sign of it.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>Any theories as to why it wouldn't head =
offshore to=20
safety?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>Chris</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE=20
style=3D"BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; =
PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
  <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
  <DIV=20
  style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>=20
  <A title=3Dsternrichard@gmail.com =
href=3D"mailto:sternrichard@gmail.com">Richard=20
  Stern</A> </DIV>
  <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
title=3Dnaturens@chebucto.ns.ca=20
  href=3D"mailto:naturens@chebucto.ns.ca">NatureNS</A> </DIV>
  <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, August 02, 2011 =
3:01=20
  PM</DIV>
  <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [NatureNS] Pond Cove, =
Brier=20
  Island shorebirds</DIV>
  <DIV><BR></DIV>Hi,<BR><BR>Here are the birds I counted at and then =
after high=20
  tide on Sun. and Mon. at Pond Cove.<BR><BR>Jul 31, 2011 12:35 PM - =
1:52=20
  PM<BR>Protocol: Traveling<BR>3.0 kilometer(s)<BR>14 =
species<BR><BR>Common=20
  Eider &nbsp;111<BR>Double-crested Cormorant &nbsp;10<BR>Great Blue =
Heron=20
  &nbsp;8<BR>Semipalmated Plover &nbsp;50<BR>Greater Yellowlegs=20
  &nbsp;5<BR>Willet &nbsp;2<BR>Ruddy Turnstone &nbsp;10<BR>Semipalmated=20
  Sandpiper &nbsp;500<BR>Least Sandpiper &nbsp;50<BR>Pectoral Sandpiper=20
  &nbsp;1<BR>Herring Gull &nbsp;98<BR>Great Black-backed Gull=20
  &nbsp;9<BR>American Crow &nbsp;2<BR>Common Yellowthroat =
&nbsp;2<BR><BR>Aug 1,=20
  2011 2:35 PM - 4:50 PM<BR>Protocol: Traveling<BR>2.0 =
kilometer(s)<BR>14=20
  species<BR><BR>Common Eider &nbsp;100<BR>Northern