[NatureNS] Possible least bittern, what to do

Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2007 08:55:32 -0400
Thread-Topic: [NatureNS] Possible least bittern, what to do
Thread-Index: Acc0gPwaxbHl5c7nSmGVDZsJ0vqoFwANSXYg
From: "Hanson,Al [Sackville]" <Al.Hanson@EC.GC.CA>
To: <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
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Return-Path: <naturens-mml-owner@chebucto.ns.ca>
Original-Recipient: rfc822;"| (cd /csuite/info/Environment/FNSN/MList; /csuite/lib/arch2html)"

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Hi Steve:


I saw your note on Nature NS

If it is a least bittern the Canadian Wildlife Service would be
interested in having the specimen and information on where and when it
was obtained.

Least Bitterns are a listed species in Canada.  In Atlantic Canada, we
have compiled the historical observations and recently  conducted
dedicated surveys for this bird.  They are and have always been uncommon
in the region... 

Please contact me and we can arrange for somebody to pick up the
carcass.

Thanks for your note.


Regards,
Al 
Dr. Alan R. Hanson 
A/ Head Migratory Bird Conservation
Wetland & Waterfowl Ecologist
Canadian Wildlife Service - Atlantic Region


Mailing Address:  P.O. Box 6227, Sackville, New Brunswick, CANADA E4L
1G6 
Courier Address: 17 Waterfowl Lane, Sackville, New Brunswick, CANADA E4L
4N1 


Ph    506 364 5061  Cell Phone: 506 850 0795
Fax: 506 364 5062
Email: al.hanson@ec.gc.ca 


-----Original Message-----
From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca
[mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] On Behalf Of Stephen Shaw
Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 2:24 AM
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
Subject: [NatureNS] Possible least bittern, what to do

Question for birders in these slow times: we are not seeing much of
anything
except squirrels, at our feeders at Halifax.
  Over Xmas, we visited the family of a friend of my daughter's near
Hubbards.
The friend's mum told me that earlier she had accidentally killed an
unusual
bird back in May while driving along highway 3 near a tidal salt marsh
area,
close to Boutiliers Point, approx 7200 section.  The bird seemed to be 
behaving
oddly, fluttering around, as she drove by and that it suddenly shot in 
front of
her car and she had no chance to avoid it.  She stopped and took the
dead bird
home and reckoned that it best fit the description of a least bittern,
according their Audubon bird guide.  When I got home I looked this up on
the
Sibley maps and it seems that a least bittern would be only a vagrant
this far
north, but it's not clear (to me) if that makes it exceedingly rare and
a
really interesting find, or merely rather irregular and of no major 
interest to
birders.  The point is that that the corpse still exists -- she 
preserved it in
her freezer. Her question to me was what to do with it, usefully.
  I commented that it might be useful first to ask people on this
network (1)
whether a possible least bittern is sufficiently interesting to get
someone
competent to check the ID, somehow; (2) is a frozen, dead (possible)
least
bittern useful for anyone to have a present of -- e.g. I recall that 
Randy Lauf
once collected specimens for an intro biology class at StFX. (May 2006 
probably
means past the due date for a bittern stew).
  The description I have is that "it is soft black on the back and rich
golden
brown on the front and has yellow legs".  Didn't see it myself.
  She's just got back to me and suggested that she could photo the 
corpse, and I
guess I could put up the resulting photo on the Flickr site for 
inspection. Before going to this bother, I'd like to know if it is a 
sufficiently
interesting bird to make this worthwhile.  Anyone have suggestions or 
comments?
Steve (Halifax)



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