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warbler species with Wilson's being particularl Hi Ruth I'm planning a trip to Brier to arrive on Saturday the 16th and stay for a few days to observe raptor migration, do a pelagic, etc. The 17th is usually the height of raptor migration. Would you be interested in going? Cheers B Quoting Bob McDonald <bobathome@hfx.eastlink.ca>: > Hello All, > > Wendy and I spent 4 days (Tues - Fri) travelling to and from and > exploring Brier Island last week. Highlights of our venture are > summarized below. > > French Basin Trail in Annapolis Royal on Tues - immatures of several > families of Pied-billed Grebes, Northern Shovellor, Wood Ducks, > Ring-necked Ducks, Northern Harrier, both species of Teal and a > total of about 40 shorebirds including Least and Semipalm Sandpiper, > both Yellowlegs, SB Dowitcher and Wilson's Snipe. On Fri on our > return from Brier, we again walked the trail to find fewer ducks and > shorebirds but we added Osprey, GB Heron, American Bittern and a Sora > to our species list for this terrific spot! No swallows were evident > on either visit. > > On Brier, migration especially of warblers and empid flycatchers was > as frantic as I've ever seen it there. The banding operation was in > full swing and on Wed they processed over 300 birds. On the previous > Sunday, they banded over 450 birds which the most ever in a single > day on record. It is worth noting here that this station has been > operating for nearly 30 years now so a significant amount of data is > available to enable researchers to look for population changes during > this period. Lance indicated that nothing too rare or unusual had > been found; what was amazing was simply the volume of birds! We > observed about a dozen warbler species with Wilson's being > particularly abundant and empids were everywhere with Yellow-bellied > being the commonest. The "best" bird for us were sightings of two > separate Philadelphia Vireos! > > There were not a huge number of shorebirds on the Ponds but notable > were 2 Baird's Sandpipers and one Pectoral Sandpiper on the ocean > beach at Pond Cove. A pelagic trip with Roy and Penny Graham of > Mariner Cruises was outstanding as always - we saw a few Puffins > along with thousands (tens of thousands...?) of Phalaropes; > Red-necked were the predominant species but a few Reds were in the > mix. Both Storm-petrels were seen with Wilson's the major species. > One surprise was how few Shearwaters were observed and they were all > Greaters. But the highlight of this outing was for sure the two > humpback whales which breached one after the other about 50 m off the > starboard side. Awesome! I was so amazed that I forgot to take a > picture!! The sunset over the Bay as we headed back to Westport was > breath-taking! > > Several Monarchs and many Orange Sulphurs were the most noteworthy > leps while all the ponds we visited had at least a few odes, the > largest of which are the Darners. Common Green, Shadow, Canada and > Variable Darners were all observed. I made no attempt to ID the > several spreadwings, bluets and meadowhawks. Another ode with a very > long flight period is the Eastern Forktail - we saw them on Brier and > I observed my first one this year on May 28 or so. > > We stayed overnight in Granville Ferry (or Granville Centre) at the > Croft House B & B which we can recommend for price, ambiance and the > superb breakfast!! They welcomed us to walk around the grounds (they > have a DU-built pond a 5-minute walk from the house) where there were > lots of birds. On leaving there on Fri AM we proceeded to Delaps > Cove and walked the Bohaker Trail - we had been wanting to do that > for years. A few warblers were seen but not much else. A lovely > walk indeed! > > Regards, > > Bob McDonald > Halifax >
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