[NatureNS] Lack of flying insects (was Golden-crowned Kinglet family group

Date: Mon, 20 Jun 2016 18:01:56 -0300 (ADT)
From: "plchalmers@ns.sympatico.ca" <plchalmers@ns.sympatico.ca>
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
References: <6CE7DA7D17CC40B3B640B3B7B63DB71A@yourfa38fa253f> <8f9ee82a23caa6a6c0f58079798a52ec@seaside.ns.ca> <C9E2625692BA4A46BF799A5A52F0964C@yourfa38fa253f>
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Original-Recipient: rfc822;"| (cd /csuite/info/Environment/FNSN/MList; /csuite/lib/arch2html)"

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   <span style="font-family: book antiqua,palatino; font-size: 12pt;">W</span>
   <span style="font-family: book antiqua,palatino; font-size: 12pt;">e sat out on the deck overlooking the Basin for the first outdoor supper of the year last night in Bedford, and both my brother and I commented on the almost complete lack of mosquitoes. In many other years they would have driven us indoors.&#160; My brother also found that black flies hadn&#39;t been a problem earlier in the spring at all.</span>
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   <span style="font-family: book antiqua,palatino; font-size: 12pt;">At home in Halifax, I&#39;ve been noticing something (probably a caterpillar of sorts) is feeding heavily on maple and ash leaves.&#160;&#160; They&#39;re covering the lawn chairs with their tiny black frass.&#160; <br/></span>
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   <span style="font-family: book antiqua,palatino; font-size: 12pt;">Cheers,<br/></span>
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   <span style="font-family: book antiqua,palatino; font-size: 12pt;">Patricia<br/></span>
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  <blockquote style="position: relative; margin-left: 0px; padding-left: 10px; border-left: solid 1px blue;" type="cite">
   On June 20, 2016 at 1:42 PM Susann Myers &#60;myerss@eastlink.ca&#62; wrote:
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    <span style="font-family: Calibri;">Thanks, Billy.</span>
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    <span style="font-family: Calibri;">That&#39;s the sort of thing I&#39;ve been experiencing, too.&#160; My memories of being in the woods&#160;for the breeding bird atlas in mid-June a few years ago are&#160;of having swarms of black flies so thick around my head that it was hard to hear the bird songs I was trying to ID.&#160; And this year, after a few on migration count day, May 14, I haven&#39;t seen any black flies along the Eastern Shore.&#160; I&#39;m not complaining, by any means, but it does seem unusual.</span>
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    <span style="font-family: Calibri;">Cheers,</span>
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    <span style="font-family: Calibri;">Susann</span>
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      <strong>From:</strong> 
      bdigout
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      <strong>Sent:</strong> Monday, June 20, 2016 12:28 PM
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      <strong>To:</strong> 
      naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
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      <strong>Subject:</strong> Re: [NatureNS] Golden-crowned Kinglet family group
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   <p>Hi Susann;</p> 
   <p>&#160; I&#39;ve been fishing the nearby streams after the rains we had last week, and although I was&#160;expecting them, there were absolutely no black flies.&#160; This may have been because&#160;it was&#160;from daybreak until probably 7:00&#160;A.M. although in the past they were quite bad.</p> 
   <p>Billy</p> 
   <p>&#160;</p> 
   <p>BillyOn 20 Jun 2016 07:02, Susann Myers wrote:</p> 
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     <span style="font-family: Calibri;">Pat McKay and I did some woods birding yesterday along the Old Mineville Road, a very quiet rough track&#160;that runs between West Porters Lake and Mineville, HRM.&#160; In one area there were a lot of Golden-crowned Kinglet calls, and we saw a group of more than 4&#160;kinglets&#160;flitting around in the woods together, feeding and calling.&#160; We couldn&#39;t get a good enough look to confirm fledgling plumage, but this appeared to be a family group.</span>
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     <span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span>&#160;
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     <span style="font-family: Calibri;">A little research confirmed that this is the right season for a first brood of fledglings to be out of the nest and moving about with their parents.&#160; </span>
     <span style="font-family: Calibri;">Tufts gives&#160;April 16 for the average start of nesting on Wolfville Ridge, and roughly mid-May for the completion of egg laying.&#160; <em>The Birders&#39; Handbook</em> indicates that incubation takes 14-15 days, and fledging another 14-19; it also indicates that this kinglet&#160;typically has 2 broods.</span>
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     <span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span>&#160;
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     <span style="font-family: Calibri;">Also notable were a good showing of butterflies and a lack of other flying insects - no black flies, and the only mosquitoes that bothered us were at a salt marsh in the early morning, where we&#160;went to hear Sora.&#160; Although the day became windy, there was no wind felt down at ground level in the woods.&#160; Are other birders noting this absence of insecs?</span>
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