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I spent the last few days with a visiting birder. Here are a few highlights. On Tuesday 8 Aug we arrived at the east end of Evangeline Beach about 3 hours before high tide. There were about 50,000 Semipalmated Sandpipers stretched along the beach opposite the forested portion of the beach, but they soon took flight and headed SE up the Avon River. We then went to the Windsor Causeway, but no shorebirds were visible in the thick grass that now covers the mud flats. The dyke behind the information centre has been raised, and the wooden stairs dismantled for the time being. We then watched for a while at the Windsor sewage ponds, but the shorebirds didn't seem to want to land. They flew in, circled for a bit, then left. It would likely help if the grass were mowed along the dyke between the two ponds. There was one Pectoral Sandpiper among the many Black-bellied Plovers. Further south our best sighting was several Gadwall at the Annapolis Basin Marsh. On Wednesday we drove to Brier Island, stopping first at Marsh Road at the head of St. Mary's Bay. There were good numbers of shorebirds and Bobolinks were flocking prior to migration. The most interesting sighting here was two Turkey Vultures sitting on fence posts. It was a fine day for a whale-watching trip, but the birds and whales seemed dispersed over a wide area. All the expected bird species were noted, but nothing unusual. Still, it is always nice to see thousands of phalaropes (both species). Mariner Cruises did a fine job, as usual. Brier Island's Pond Cove has quite low water levels, making it great for shorebirds. There were more than 1000 at high tide, mostly Semipalmated Sandpipers and Short-billed Dowitchers. We explored forest areas in the province's centre on Thursday, but found the woods mostly quiet, with the best sightings two separate Canada Warblers, and two Red Crossbills. A fun few days. Cheers, ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blake Maybank Editor, "Nova Scotia Birds" author, "Birding Sites of Nova Scotia" http://maybank.tripod.com/BSNS.htm 144 Bayview Drive White's Lake, Nova Scotia, B3T 1Z1, Canada maybank@ns.sympatico.ca (902) 852-2077 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.1.405 / Virus Database: 268.10.9/416 - Release Date: 10/08/2006
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