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Ken McKenna Box 218 Stellarton NS B0K 1S0 902 752-7644 Hi Andy Wow! Thanks very much for this info. Sounds like I should subscribe to the Birds of North America. I tried to look up Bent's Life Histories of Birds. I thought that the NS Museum of Natural History carried it online. but I must have been dreaming as it did not appear to be there. Charlie will be glad to hear that what he saw has been recorded and actually studied. cheers ken ----- Original Message ----- From: "Andrew Horn" <aghorn@dal.ca> To: <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca> Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2013 3:19 PM Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Shrike, waxwings in HRM > Hi Ken et al, > > Nice story re the shrike. My friends were treated to quite the sight, too, > as the shrike persistently, but unsuccessfully, chased what they suspect > was a kinglet. > > Your question about how they carry their prey sent me to the species' > Birds of North America account, where I found that to carry prey > 25 g, > Northern Shrikes (weight ~65 g) will shift the prey from their bill to > their feet. Incredibly enough, they've done so with birds as large as, in > one case, a Stilt Sandpiper (55 g). (Another report, of a shrike carrying > a pigeon (~350 g) for at least 50 m, is treated a bit skeptically.) > > Pretty amazing, > Andy > > On Feb 24, 2013, at 10:32 AM, Ken McKenna wrote: > >> >> Ken McKenna >> Box 218 Stellarton NS >> B0K 1S0 >> 902 752-7644 >> >> Hi Andy and all >> Charlie Kendell and I also had an adult Northern Shrike yesterday at >> Three Brooks in Pictou Co. We had just crossed Weirs Gut bridge when >> Charlie pointed out this awkwardly flying bird heading in our direction. >> I was driving and only had a quick glance at something that had a rolling >> alcid-like flight over the mostly frozen Three Brooks. >> Charlie felt strongly it might have been a Shrike as he seems to be able >> to pull shrikes out of the wood-work! >> He also felt the shrike had a small rodent in it's claws?- likely was the >> beak as I doubt the feet would be able to carry a rodent. Anyone know if >> it is possible? >> >> He jumped out of the vehicle and observed where it landed maybe 400m away >> on top of a hardwood. We turned around and drove back to see if we could >> confirm, but we could not locate the bird. We then started to head back >> out to Caribou I. when the Shrike flew over our vehicle and landed on a >> nearby conifer. We were able to confirm it to be an adult Northern Shrike >> with a few quick photos. It then landing on a power-line along the >> Panting driveway. Charlie was able to observe the bird try to clean some >> blood and debris from bill. This was most likely the same bird that we >> had seen earlier. More nice shots were taken. >> >> Other birds seen yesterday afternoon: >> >> 3 Barrows Goldeneye at Pictou Causeway (2 male) >> 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler- Caribou I. ( Dragline area) >> 6 Gadwall- NSPC Trenton >> 5 Green-winged Teal (Am)- NSPC Trenton >> 19 American Wigeon -NSPC Trenton did not see the male Eurasian today >> pair N. Pintail-NSPC Trenton >> 1 Belted Kingfisher -NSPC Trenton ( Green's Pt.) >> 3 Hooded merganser- NSPC Trenton >> 5 Hooded Merganser-Pictou Landing Big Gut bridge >> 3 fem.Pintail- New Glasgow sewer >> 3 Am. Wigeon -New Glasgow sewer >> >> Lots of Scaup along the Pictou Causeway -several thousand and a good >> assortment of other waterfowl >> >> cheers >> Ken >> >> >> >> >> >> >> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Andrew Horn" <aghorn@dal.ca> >> To: <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca> >> Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2013 9:14 AM >> Subject: [NatureNS] Shrike, waxwings in HRM >> >> >>> Hi all, >>> >>> Yesterday afternoon, friends saw a Northern Shrike hunting near Susie's >>> Lake (which is behind the Bayer's Lake Shopping Centre), and on >>> Thursday, other friends had 30 Bohemian Waxwings in their backyard south >>> of the Dalhousie campus. >>> >>> No exact locations on either, but worth keeping an eye out if you happen >>> to be in those areas. >>> >>> Cheers, >>> Andy Horn >>> Halifax >> >> >
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