[NatureNS] Baltimore Orioles, Halifax

Date: Tue, 04 Oct 2011 21:41:04 -0300
To: NatureNS <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
From: "P.L. Chalmers" <plchalmers@ns.sympatico.ca>
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	These have been a frustrating couple of days for those of us who 
work regular hours!  Yesterday (3 October)  while walking to work I 
was aware that there were a lot of birds around, although apart from 
the return of Robins I didn't notice anything unusual.  On my walk 
home after work, while it was still warm and sunny, I went the longer 
way and took the footpath from Coburg Road through to Conrose 
Field.  Wainwright's Tangle was alive with birds; the trees were 
catching the late afternoon sun, and I glimpsed warblers, vireos, and 
orioles.  However I lacked binoculars, and although after a while the 
birds responded to my pishing by drawing a bit closer, they remained 
skulky and I couldn't get good looks at any of them.  As soon as I 
got home I phoned Susann Myers, who lives nearby, and we promptly 
went back for a better look.

	By then, as it was after 6 o'clock, the sun was getting low and the 
trees were no longer in sunshine.  At first we thought the place was 
deserted, but then we spotted an oriole in the apple tree, and then 
another, and then another...  There were four immature Baltimore 
Orioles in one tree; three bright males, and one female.  They seemed 
hungry as they were ripping the apples apart, and not tolerating any 
competition.

	There were still a few warblers present, including a Nashville and a 
Yellow-rumped, but the rest of the birds I had seen were gone.  We 
walked down to the Waegwoltic Club and along Birchdale, but all was 
quiet.  Still, it was lovely to see all those orioles, the first I 
have seen this year.

	As we came back up Coburg, we saw several large flocks of Common 
Grackles, totalling at least 400 birds, fly west along the railway cut.

	Patricia L. Chalmers
	Halifax

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