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--Boundary_(ID_2dlPs6mtwCMBXkVlbzHYKQ) Content-type: text/plain; CHARSET=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT I forgot to insert this in my discussion of Evangeline Beach critters: Since the semipalmated sandpipers' diet is supposedly 90% mud shrimps, and since the eastern part of Evangeline Beach is predictably a spot where every day or every tide? when the tide starts to ebb there are 5,000 to 10,000 or more peeps there feverishly beginning their foraging on some sort of food, what is it that they are getting there?? I'll have to do some more exploring for mud shrimps or other foods I haven't found yet. Cheers and again apologies re length, from Jim in Wolfville. Begin forwarded message: > From: "James W. Wolford" <jimwolford@eastlink.ca> > Date: August 17, 2011 5:35:56 PM ADT > To: NatureNS <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>, Julie Paquet > <Julie.Paquet@ec.gc.ca>, Kate Robinson <Kate.Robinson@EC.GC.CA>, > John and Janet Foster <fosterjj@hughes.net>, Bill Pratt > <bpratt@storm.ca>, Richard Stern <sternrichard@gmail.com>, Judy & > Gordon Tufts <tandove@ns.sympatico.ca>, Dick Dekker > <ddekker1@telus.net>, Jim Wolford <jimwolford@eastlink.ca> > Subject: shorebirds' food: Ev. Beach, Blomidon, Kingsport > > AUGUST 17, 2011 - This morning at low tide (10 a.m.) I led Janet & > John Foster on a "wild goose chase", trying to show them some > sandpiper food, i.e. mud shrimps, on the mudflats of east > Evangeline Beach. But after we separated I did much better at Cape > Blomidon and less so at Kingsport. > > The mud of Evangeline Beach wasn't deep but it was very sticky and > slimy (from unseen microscopic diatoms), and Janet had too-big > boots and a very hard time re movement. There were zillions of > signs of life in two ways: thousands and thousands and more mud > snails (Ilyanassa or Nassarius), and tiny blobs of castings from > very skinny and fragile reddish segmented polychaete worms > (Heteromastus) on the mud surface. The snails are scavengers but > also "graze" on the microscopic but hugely abundant diatoms (single- > celled algae in glass shells like Petri dishes), while the > polychaete worms are scavengers/omnivores/recyclers like earthworms > on land, eating anything organic. > > Since we were on the mud at low tide, we saw no shorebirds at all. > They would have been very dispersed and spread out all over the > many mudflats they had to choose from. > > The Fosters and I then parted company, and I scouted out two other > locations during the low-tide period (high tide this afternoon was > at about 4 p.m.). > > First I drove north up to Blomidon Provincial Park, where a few > decades ago with my camera and shovel I blundered into some good > spots in the upper intertidal muddy sand for mud shrimps and their > U-shaped burrows plus soft-shelled clams plus small Macoma clams, > plus other good stuff too. The lower southeast corner of this > large and varied park, mostly forested, is a very popular coastal- > access spot known locally as White Waters. The name probably > refers to the gushing waterfall that empties into the Minas Basin > right at the bottom of the stairs to the upper beach. (And this > waterfall is very handy for washing off mud after a beachcombing > walk!) > > Well, I walked along the south edge of the waterfall outfall and > quickly found just what I wanted, those three critters listed > above, along with their surface signs; thus I hope the Fosters will > be able to see and film this spot. I was only there about a half- > hour as the incoming tide was just reaching the upper part of the > beach. Tide-times are about a half-hour earlier here than in > Wolfville/Grand Pre/Avonport areas. > > Then I drove south to Kingsport via the Medford area. The incoming > tide there meant I had only a short time to explore, and I didn't > find anything that would be better for the Fosters than was > Blomidon. However, there were a few foraging shorebirds to be > seen: a small mixed group of about 10 semipalmated sandpipers with > 3 semipalmated plovers (anyone confused?), and separately a pair of > early sanderlings in winter whitish plumage working the edge of the > disappearing shore. > > Then I ended my shore sojourn today with an ice-cream cone from the > wharf canteen. > > Cheers from Jim in Wolfville. --Boundary_(ID_2dlPs6mtwCMBXkVlbzHYKQ) Content-type: text/html; CHARSET=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable <html><body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; = -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "> I forgot to insert this in my discussion of Evangeline Beach = critters:<div><br></div><div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font = face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica">Since the = <b>semipalmated sandpipers' diet </b>is supposedly 90% mud shrimps, and = since the <b>eastern part of Evangeline Beach</b> is predictably a spot = where every day or every tide? when the tide starts to ebb there are = 5,000 to 10,000 or more peeps there feverishly beginning their foraging = on some sort of food, <b>what is it that they are getting = there??</b> I'll have to do some more exploring for mud shrimps or = other foods I haven't found yet.</font></div></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: = 12.0px Helvetica"><br></font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font = face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica">Cheers = and again apologies re length, from Jim in = Wolfville.</font></div><div><div><br><div>Begin forwarded = message:</div><br class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote = type=3D"cite"><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" = size=3D"3" color=3D"#000000" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: = #000000"><b>From: </b></font><font face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" = style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica">"James W. Wolford" <<a = href=3D"mailto:jimwolford@eastlink.ca">jimwolford@eastlink.ca</a>></fon= t></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: = 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" = color=3D"#000000" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: = #000000"><b>Date: </b></font><font face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" = style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica">August 17, 2011 5:35:56 PM = ADT</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" = size=3D"3" color=3D"#000000" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: = #000000"><b>To: </b></font><font face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" = style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica">NatureNS <<a = href=3D"mailto:naturens@chebucto.ns.ca">naturens@chebucto.ns.ca</a>>, = Julie Paquet <<a = href=3D"mailto:Julie.Paquet@ec.gc.ca">Julie.Paquet@ec.gc.ca</a>>, = Kate Robinson <<a = href=3D"mailto:Kate.Robinson@EC.GC.CA">Kate.Robinson@EC.GC.CA</a>>, = John and Janet Foster <<a = href=3D"mailto:fosterjj@hughes.net">fosterjj@hughes.net</a>>, Bill = Pratt <bpratt@storm.ca>, = Richard Stern <<a = href=3D"mailto:sternrichard@gmail.com">sternrichard@gmail.com</a>>, = Judy & Gordon Tufts <<a = href=3D"mailto:tandove@ns.sympatico.ca">tandove@ns.sympatico.ca</a>>, = Dick Dekker <<a = href=3D"mailto:ddekker1@telus.net">ddekker1@telus.net</a>>, Jim = Wolford <<a = href=3D"mailto:jimwolford@eastlink.ca">jimwolford@eastlink.ca</a>></fon= t></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: = 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" = color=3D"#000000" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: = #000000"><b>Subject: </b></font><font face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" = style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica"><b>shorebirds' food: Ev. Beach, = Blomidon, Kingsport</b></font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: = 14px; "><br></div> <div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" = size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica"><b>AUGUST 17, 2011</b> - = This morning at low tide (10 a.m.)<b> I led Janet & John Foster on a = "wild goose chase", trying to show them some sandpiper food, i.e. mud = shrimps</b>, on the mudflats of east Evangeline Beach. But after = we separated I did much better at Cape Blomidon and less so at = Kingsport. </font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal = normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: = 12.0px Helvetica">The mud of Evangeline Beach wasn't deep but it was = very sticky and slimy (from unseen microscopic diatoms), and Janet had = too-big boots and a very hard time re movement. There were = zillions of signs of life in two ways: thousands and thousands and more = <b>mud snails </b>(<i>Ilyanassa</i> or <i>Nassarius</i>), and tiny blobs = of castings from very skinny and fragile reddish segmented <b>polychaete = worms </b>(<i>Heteromastus</i>) on the mud surface. The snails are = scavengers but also "graze" on the microscopic but hugely abundant = diatoms (single-celled algae in glass shells like Petri dishes), while = the polychaete worms are scavengers/omnivores/recyclers like earthworms = on land, eating anything organic.</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: = 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: = normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; = "><br></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" = size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica">Since we were on the mud at = low tide, we saw no <b>shorebirds </b>at all. They would have been = very dispersed and spread out all over the many mudflats they had to = choose from.</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: = 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal = 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: = 12.0px Helvetica">The Fosters and I then parted company, and I scouted = out two other locations during the low-tide period (high tide this = afternoon was at about 4 p.m.).</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: = 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: = normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; = "><br></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" = size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica">First I drove north up<b> to = Blomidon Provincial Park</b>, where a few decades ago with my camera and = shovel I blundered into some good spots in the upper intertidal muddy = sand for <b>mud shrimps</b> and their U-shaped burrows plus = <b>soft-shelled clams </b>plus small<i> Macoma</i> <b>clams</b>, plus = other good stuff too. The lower southeast corner of this large and = varied park, mostly forested, is a very <b>popular coastal-access spot = known locally as White Waters</b>. The name probably refers to the = gushing waterfall that empties into the Minas Basin right at the bottom = of the stairs to the upper beach. (And this waterfall is very = handy for washing off mud after a beachcombing walk!)</font></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; = min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font = face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica">Well, I = walked along the south edge of the waterfall outfall and <b>quickly = found just what I wanted, those three critters listed above</b>, along = with their surface signs; thus I hope the Fosters will be able to see = and film this spot. I was only there about a half-hour as the = incoming tide was just reaching the upper part of the beach. = Tide-times are about a half-hour earlier here than in Wolfville/Grand = Pre/Avonport areas.</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal = normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: = 12.0px Helvetica">Then I drove south<b> to Kingsport</b> via the Medford = area. The incoming tide there meant I had only a short time to = explore, and I didn't find anything that would be better for the Fosters = than was Blomidon. However, there were a few <b>foraging = shorebirds</b> to be seen: a small mixed group of about 10 = <b>semipalmated sandpipers</b> with 3 <b>semipalmated plovers</b> = (anyone confused?), and separately a pair of early<b> sanderlings </b>in = winter whitish plumage working the edge of the disappearing = shore.</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal = 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: = 12.0px Helvetica">Then I ended my shore sojourn today with an ice-cream = cone from the wharf canteen.</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font = face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px = Helvetica"><br></font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: = 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" = size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica">Cheers from Jim in = Wolfville.</font></div> </blockquote></div><br></div></body></html>= --Boundary_(ID_2dlPs6mtwCMBXkVlbzHYKQ)--
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