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As I had to accompany my wife to a seminar in New Glasgow on Thursday through Saturday morning I took the opportunity on Friday 27 October to check out the area. It periodically poured with very cold rain which meant that my observations were sporadic at best and I didn't hang about for detailed counts. Not knowing the sites meant that the day was hit or miss and I spent a couple of hours before really finding anything interesting beyond the hoards of DC Cormorants and the occasional Great Cormorant that seemed to be everywhere. Then I found the Chance Harbour and Black Point areas and things really changed. Near Black Point was a flock of extremely active Red Breasted Mergansers - at least 300 of them, the most I have seen in one place. Also in the boiling mass was a large number of Common Mergansers and a few Buffle Heads, along with maybe 60 Black Ducks and dozens of Horned Grebes. Nearby was at least 100 Canada Geese and I spotted what looked like a handful of Brant Geese, but they rapidly vanished. Also in the area were a few Common Loons and a number of Red Throated Loons. All the birds were very nervous and would take off as soon as you got out of the car, presumably something you can thank local hunters for. A couple of Greater Yellowlegs worked the shoreline but stubbornly refused to allow me to photograph them. A large number of Bonaparte and Ring billed Gulls were also in the area, plus what I thought was a couple of terns. I could not be sure as I had to cower in the car from another freezing onslaught at that moment. In the wooded areas a good number of robins were making their noisy presence known. There were even Flickers calling out. Being miserable and wet I did not return after a late lunch but I will have to check out that area again whenever I get the chance. John Belbin
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