[NatureNS] Counts quiet, but with a few rarities -- Daily News, Sunday,

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Subject: Counts quiet, but with a few rarities -- Daily News, Sunday,
January 7, 2007

COLUMNS    Daily News, Sunday, January 7, 2007

Counts quiet, but with a few rarities
 
By Clarence Stevens
The Daily News

As the Christmas Bird Count period draws to a close, a clearer picture of
winter bird populations around the province emerges.

The Bedford Sackville count, like most of our Nova Scotia Christmas Bird
Counts this year, was a quiet count, with lower than normal bird species,
but still, some interesting observations were made.

The rarest bird of the count was a Brown Thrasher discovered at feeders in
the Lewis Lake area. The Bedford Basin Yacht Club was the location of the
discovery of a Lesser Black Back Gull. Bedford feeders provided a Baltimore
Oriole for the count, and at least one Northern Cardinal. In Sackville, an
American Coot was observed in First Lake. An out-of season Hermit Thrush was
found in Rockingham, and one of the very few Northern Shrikes to be reported
in the province this winter was observed in Tantallon. As in most of the
province's counts, Purple Finches and Common Redpolls were either missing or
present in very low numbers.

During the Hants West count, most of the highlights were either raptors or
members of the waterfowl family, though one exception was a Black Backed
Woodpecker. Raptor highlights included two Barred Owls, one on the Old Dump
site along the Walton Road and one at Smiley's Provincial Park. The only
other owl species found inside the count circle was a Short Eared Owl at the
St.Croix Cemetery. As count participants birded the Hants West area, they
also accidentally located one Great Horned Owl and one Long Eared Owl just
outside the circle.

The rarest waterfowl of the Hants West count was a Northern Shoveler at the
Windsor Sewage Lagoons. Other notables at the lagoons included Green Winged
Teal, American Wigeon and Ring Necked Ducks. A mystery hawk seen during the
count has not yet been positively identified, but is likely either a Red
Shouldered Hawk or a Broad Winged Hawk. Both species closely resemble each
other in appearance, but inside Nova Scotia, sightings of Red Shouldered
Hawk in winter are extremely rare.

Outside of Nova Scotia only Red Shouldered Hawks have been recorded on cold
weather counts, so many American birders have a hard time believing that
Broad Winged Hawks could be sighted here on our counts. That's in spite of
numerous detailed sightings, including at least one with collaborating
photographs that positively identify the hawk as a Broad Winged. This
particular hawk will remain a mystery unless it can be rediscovered.

The Lunenburg count can be touted as the jewel of this year's Christmas Bird
Count season. Although the number of birds were low, as in all counts, each
team seemed to provide a few unique species, resulting in a count that
produced a good variety of species. Not all the data are in, but the most
recent tally indicated that at least 79 species were observed on count day.
Highlights from the Lunenburg CBC included three Northern Cardinals, two
Gadwalls, two Purple Sandpipers, three Orange Crowned Warblers, five Barrows
Goldeneyes, one Black Backed Woodpecker, one Lesser Black Back Gull, and one
Great Horned Owl.

Clarence Stevens operates Natural Wonders, a nature interpretation company,
and is the author of Birding Metro Halifax. To pass along your bird reports
contact Clarence at dnbirder@yahoo.ca.



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<TITLE>Counts quiet, but with a few rarities -- Daily News, Sunday, January 7, 2007</TITLE>
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<B>Subject: </B>Counts quiet, but with a few rarities -- Daily News, Sunday, January 7, 2007<BR>
<BR>
<FONT SIZE="2"><FONT FACE="Arial"><B>COLUMNS</B> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Daily News, Sunday, January 7, 2007<BR>
<BR>
<B>Counts quiet, but with a few rarities</B> <BR>
</FONT></FONT><FONT FACE="Arial"><FONT SIZE="4"> <BR>
</FONT><H5>By Clarence Stevens<BR>
The Daily News<BR>
</H5><FONT SIZE="4"><BR>
</FONT><FONT SIZE="2">As the Christmas Bird Count period draws to a close, a clearer picture of winter bird populations around the province emerges.<BR>
<BR>
The Bedford Sackville count, like most of our Nova Scotia Christmas Bird Counts this year, was a quiet count, with lower than normal bird species, but still, some interesting observations were made.<BR>
<BR>
The rarest bird of the count was a Brown Thrasher discovered at feeders in the Lewis Lake area. The Bedford Basin Yacht Club was the location of the discovery of a Lesser Black Back Gull. Bedford feeders provided a Baltimore Oriole for the count, and at least one Northern Cardinal. In Sackville, an American Coot was observed in First Lake. An out-of season Hermit Thrush was found in Rockingham, and one of the very few Northern Shrikes to be reported in the province this winter was observed in Tantallon. As in most of the province's counts, Purple Finches and Common Redpolls were either missing or present in very low numbers.<BR>
<BR>
During the Hants West count, most of the highlights were either raptors or members of the waterfowl family, though one exception was a Black Backed Woodpecker. Raptor highlights included two Barred Owls, one on the Old Dump site along the Walton Road and one at Smiley's Provincial Park. The only other owl species found inside the count circle was a Short Eared Owl at the St.Croix Cemetery. As count participants birded the Hants West area, they also accidentally located one Great Horned Owl and one Long Eared Owl just outside the circle.<BR>
<BR>
The rarest waterfowl of the Hants West count was a Northern Shoveler at the Windsor Sewage Lagoons. Other notables at the lagoons included Green Winged Teal, American Wigeon and Ring Necked Ducks. A mystery hawk seen during the count has not yet been positively identified, but is likely either a Red Shouldered Hawk or a Broad Winged Hawk. Both species closely resemble each other in appearance, but inside Nova Scotia, sightings of Red Shouldered Hawk in winter are extremely rare.<BR>
<BR>
Outside of Nova Scotia only Red Shouldered Hawks have been recorded on cold weather counts, so many American birders have a hard time believing that Broad Winged Hawks could be sighted here on our counts. That's in spite of numerous detailed sightings, including at least one with collaborating photographs that positively identify the hawk as a Broad Winged. This particular hawk will remain a mystery unless it can be rediscovered. <BR>
<BR>
The Lunenburg count can be touted as the jewel of this year's Christmas Bird Count season. Although the number of birds were low, as in all counts, each team seemed to provide a few unique species, resulting in a count that produced a good variety of species. Not all the data are in, but the most recent tally indicated that at least 79 species were observed on count day. Highlights from the Lunenburg CBC included three Northern Cardinals, two Gadwalls, two Purple Sandpipers, three Orange Crowned Warblers, five Barrows Goldeneyes, one Black Backed Woodpecker, one Lesser Black Back Gull, and one Great Horned Owl.<BR>
<BR>
<I>Clarence Stevens operates Natural Wonders, a nature interpretation company, and is the author of Birding Metro Halifax. To pass along your bird reports contact Clarence at dnbirder@yahoo.ca.</I> <BR>
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