next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
previous message in thread
Index of Subjects
Index of Subjects Hi, Bob. Welcome back to NatureNS! Thanks to your great directions and your notice that there were shorebirds to be seen, I hiked out to this beach with my spotting scope on Saturday (Feb. 17?). It was not easy in places getting the scope through those hurricane-downed woods, but was worth it for the looks I got at the beach. I counted 26 Dunlin there, along with 10 Black-headed Gulls and a mix of other very vocal gulls. There were no Semi. Sandpipers present, and the Dunlin were busily pulling worms out of the mud, just as you described, so I suspect these are the same birds you're seeing. Field marks that help ID winter Dunlin are their size (a couple of inches larger than SESAs), chunky appearance, long drooping bills, and grey-brown unmarked breasts, giving them a hooded look. Semipalmated Sandpipers have only a smudge of dark markings at the side of the breast, and a clear pale central breast. These field marks can't be seen at any distance without a scope, however. It's also helpful to know that SESAs would be rarities here in winter, while Dunlin can be expected in these numbers with a bit of luck. Thanks again for your posting through Suzanne to let us know about these shorebirds. Cheers, Susann ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bob Lindsay" <rhlindsay@accesswave.ca> To: "Nature NS" naturens@chebucto.ns.ca Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2007 2:04 PM Subject: [NatureNS] more peeps in the dead of winter > Hello, all. > > If you are reading this, then I've been successful in resubscribing to > NatureNS, after almost a year off. > > Further to a posting I passed along via Suzanne Borkowski on Feb. 10th, > this is to let you know I saw semipalmated sandpiper again, in exactly the > same location. I saw 18 (eighteen) of them at about 1230 pm today, Feb > 20th. Light flurries, light breezes. Again, they were on the muddy beach > on the receding tide, pulling worms out of the mud. > > For the interest of those who didn't see my Feb 10th notice, it was > between Three Fathom Harbour and Terminal beach, east of Dartmouth, beyond > Lawrencetown. > > To reach the location, travel on Hwy. #207 past Lawrencentown Beach, and > turn onto Three Fathom Harbour Road. Park near the trail access at Rocky > Run, and hike west, back towards Lawrencetown. At this point, I'll paste > in the directions I gave ten days ago: > > To reach the somewhat isolated beach, here are two ways to get to it: > > 1. Start from the Three Fathom Harbour Road and head west (towards > Lawrencetown) on the trail. Past the Rocky Run bridge, but before the flat > marshy area where Soras and Ring-Necked Ducks can be heard or seen in the > summer, follow a path on your left into the woods. Go all the way out to > the beach, and then walk along it to the right. That's where the Semis > were. > > other way: > > 2. Walk west along the trail until you reach paths going off it to the > left, when the land rises to the Terminal Beach cliffs. Walk along a path > to the left until you find one of the paths that go out to the beach. You > will then be approaching the beach from the other direction. > > cheers, > Bob Lindsay > >
next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
previous message in thread
Index of Subjects