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This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --Boundary_(ID_GZFUAa6wJH1MrLa0IuA5+A) Content-type: text/plain; CHARSET=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable Ken McKenna Box 218 Stellarton NS B0K 1S0 902 752-7644 Hi all On the way to the memorial service in Central Economy for Fran Spalding = yesterday, Ross Hall and I had a look at the high tide shorebird roost = at Lower Debert Beach. We were there at 1 p.m. and the birds were mostly = roosting in a couple of groups on the pebble beach at the end of the = road. The birds numbered about 1000 and about 8 species. It was hard to = identify the cluster but we could observe about 80 Semipalmated Plover, = 5 Black-bellied Plover, 50 Dunlin, 50 Sanderling, 1 Red Knot, 1 SB = Dowicher, and the remaining peeps were White-rumped and Semipalmated = Sandpipers. I crudely estimated that there were 80% Semipalmated = Sandpipers, but really hard to determine in the grouping. Maybe 10% of = the flock was starting to forage with the dropping tide and that is = where I came up with the proportion. We noted a colour-marked = Semipalmated Plover (SEPL) easily picked out from the flock with the = yellowish-orange breast dye. This bird was further marked with a wide = orange band(s) on left leg and a white flag on the upper right leg with = a yellow ring below this. We could not discern any numbers on the bands. = The info has been sent to the Patuxent Wildlife Research Centre Bird = Banding Station and I will report back if there was enough info to find = out where and when the bird was banded.=20 Edgar Spalding, Fran's son, indicated he and Fran occasional found such = birds during the long period that Fran did the Atlantic Canada Shorebird = count at Economy from (1977 to at least 2009). Fran also had many = contributions to observing nature in NS including starting the Economy = CBC in 1972. This count was discontinued only couple of years when Fran = was ill, but started again last winter by J. MacLaughlin who spoke at = the Memorial service about how Fran influenced her interest in observing = birds and indeed to many others in the Economy shore. She spoke about = how he was able to see a Northern Mockingbird this summer from his = window to his yard even though he was very sick and how good it made him = feel to see this uncommon bird , one of many he reported over the years = from the Economy area. Fran also was a regional editor for the NS Birds = publication for the NS Bird Society for many years and an active = participant in both Maritime Bird Atlasses and wrote a nature column for = the local paper. He was also very interested in insects, wildflowers and = often produced many fine photographs.Unfortunately, I think much of = these as well as his well-stocked and well-read library were destroyed = when he and Betty's home was destroyed in a fire 3-4 years ago.=20 His brother Peter spoke about Fran's intriging life before he moved from = the US to Economy and we were certainly blessed in NS to have had his = contributions over such a long period of time. He will be missed.=20 Ken=20 --Boundary_(ID_GZFUAa6wJH1MrLa0IuA5+A) Content-type: text/html; CHARSET=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type> <META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.19120"> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Ken McKenna<BR>Box 218 Stellarton NS<BR>B0K 1S0<BR>902 752-7644<BR></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Hi all</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>On the way to the memorial service in Central Economy for Fran Spalding yesterday, Ross Hall and I had a look at the high tide shorebird roost at Lower Debert Beach. We were there at 1 p.m. and the birds were mostly roosting in a couple of groups on the pebble beach at the end of the road. The birds numbered about 1000 and about 8 species. It was hard to identify the cluster but we could observe about 80 Semipalmated Plover, 5 Black-bellied Plover, 50 Dunlin, 50 Sanderling, 1 Red Knot, 1 SB Dowicher, and the remaining peeps were White-rumped and Semipalmated Sandpipers. I crudely estimated that there were 80% Semipalmated Sandpipers, but really hard to determine in the grouping. Maybe 10% of the flock was starting to forage with the dropping tide and that is where I came up with the proportion. We noted a colour-marked Semipalmated Plover (SEPL) easily picked out from the flock with the yellowish-orange breast dye. This bird was further marked with a wide orange band(s) on left leg and a white flag on the upper right leg with a yellow ring below this. We could not discern any numbers on the bands. The info has been sent to the Patuxent W</FONT><FONT size=2 face=Arial>ildlife Research Centre Bird Banding Station and I will report back if there was enough info to find out where and when the bird was banded. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Edgar Spalding, Fran's son, indicated he and Fran occasional found such birds during the long period that Fran did the Atlantic Canada Shorebird count at Economy from (1977 to at least 2009). Fran also had many contributions to observing nature in NS including starting the Economy CBC in 1972. This count was discontinued only couple of years when Fran was ill, but started again last winter by J. MacLaughlin who spoke at the Memorial service about how Fran influenced her interest in observing birds and indeed to many others in the Economy shore. She spoke about how he was able to see a Northern Mockingbird this summer from his window to his yard even though he was very sick and how good it made him feel to see this uncommon bird , one of many he reported over the years from the Economy area. Fran also was a regional editor for the NS Birds publication for the NS Bird Society for many years and an active participant in both Maritime Bird Atlasses and wrote a nature column for the local paper. He was also very interested in insects, wildflowers and often produced many fine photographs.Unfortunately, I think much of these as well as his well-stocked and well-read library were destroyed when he and Betty's home was destroyed in a fire 3-4 years ago. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>His brother Peter spoke about Fran's intriging life before he moved from the US to Economy and we were certainly blessed in NS to have had his contributions over such a long period</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>of time. He will be missed. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Ken </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial> </DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML> --Boundary_(ID_GZFUAa6wJH1MrLa0IuA5+A)--
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