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----- Original Message ----- From: "Joan Czapalay" <joancz@ns.sympatico.ca> To: <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca> Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 8:26 AM Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Possible least bittern, what to do > Least Bittern is a very interesting vagrant, Steve. I was once given a > live, but very tired, Least Bittern in the late 1980's. I took it to a > marshy area by the water near Temple Church in Barrington. After taking > several pictures we released it, and it flew off well. I sent the pictures > to Ian McLaren, and one was published in NS birds (probably 1989?). This > bird had landed on a fishing boat between Seal Island and Cape Sable > Island. The only one I have seen since then was the one that stayed for > some time in the Little Pond on Brier Island a few years ago. > I do believe it is illegal to keep or offer dead birds except for the > Museum, but I am sure others will address that. Cheers, Joan > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Stephen Shaw" <srshaw@dal.ca> > To: <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca> > Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 2:24 AM > 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) >> >> >> -- >> No virus found in this incoming message. >> Checked by AVG Free Edition. >> Version: 7.1.410 / Virus Database: 268.16.8/621 - Release Date: 1/9/2007 >> >> >
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