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This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --Boundary_(ID_Ds2iXz3bC+uTzxt5uI+K0A) Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable I took a hike to Pennant Point, Crystal Crescent Beach PP, this morning. = What a difference a day makes! The recent southern winds swept in a = bunch of new birds. Along the entrance road Swamp Sparrow, Palm Warbler = and Dark-eyed Junco were singing, an opportunity to tune one's rusty = winter ear to separate "trillers" in the field by voice. Further along = a single Fox Sparrow is holding territory by singing brightly, heard = this morning for my fourth consecutive visit. The park is full of = Savannah and Song Sparrows all the way to the Pennant Point, also = singing with all the gusto these diminutive birds can muster. Three = Northern Harriers and one American Kestrel represented the raptors. At = the first small pond beside the trail I was surprised to see two female = Hooded Mergansers. There are still several Long-tailed Ducks off shore. = I always gag a bit using that mundane name for such an elegant duck. At = the cobbly beach past the second pond a Killdeer foraged. A Killdeer is = such a skittish bird except when near its nest. Common Flickers and = Yellow-rumped Warblers were also present and singing. Lots and lots of = American Robins and finches everywhere. Mackerel Cove Beach had two = Ipswich Sparrows. The gulls are among our most intelligent birds, no argument here. Along = and beside the road near the pond at Sambro Harbour gulls drop mussels = and other critters onto the road to break open the shells, no surprise = here either. But......., the cars that drive by run over these mussels = and smash them open to the delight of the gulls that swoop in behind to = devour the contents. Are these gulls knowingly dropping these mussels = onto the road to be smashed by the cars and if so is this another = example of a bird using a tool, in this case a mechanized tool? It is well known that Ring-tailed Pheasants are polygamous but I've = never witnessed this behaviour before up close. Our male is standing = sentry duty on the front lawn throughout the day. If I drew a line from = the tip of his bill along his back and lined it up with his tail in two = or three different locations I'm sure I could locate the nest(s) by = simple triangulation. There are two possibly three females in his = harem. Next month there may be as many as thirty chicks running around = here. I've posted a few photos starting with this morning's Savannah Sparrow = singly shortly after dawn and finishing with yet another photo of our = Ring-necked Pheasant on our front lawn. Hans http://www.hanstoom.com/Highlights/Highlights16.html When viewing images tap F11 or View Full Screen and use the navigation = buttons on my website ______________________________________________________________ Hans Toom Portuguese Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada E-mail: htoom@hfx.eastlink.ca Migration Count: http://hanstoom.com/NAMC/Index.html Nature Website: http://hanstoom.com=20 ____________________________________________________________= --Boundary_(ID_Ds2iXz3bC+uTzxt5uI+K0A) Content-type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16414" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I took a hike to Pennant Point, Crystal Crescent Beach PP, this morning. What a difference a day makes! The recent southern winds swept in a bunch of new birds. Along the entrance road Swamp Sparrow, Palm Warbler and Dark-eyed Junco were singing, an opportunity to tune one's rusty winter ear to separate "trillers" in the field by voice. Further along a single Fox Sparrow is holding territory by singing brightly, heard this morning for my fourth consecutive visit. The park is full of Savannah and Song Sparrows all the way to the Pennant Point, also singing with all the gusto these diminutive birds can muster. Three Northern Harriers and one American Kestrel represented the raptors. At the first small pond beside the trail I was surprised to see two female Hooded Mergansers. There are still several Long-tailed Ducks off shore. I always gag a bit using that mundane name for such an elegant duck. At the cobbly beach past the second pond a Killdeer foraged. A Killdeer is such a skittish bird except when near its nest. Common Flickers and Yellow-rumped Warblers were also present and singing. Lots and lots of American Robins and finches everywhere. Mackerel Cove Beach had two Ipswich Sparrows.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The gulls are among our most intelligent birds, no argument here. Along and beside the road near the pond at Sambro Harbour gulls drop mussels and other critters onto the road to break open the shells, no surprise here either. But......., the cars that drive by run over these mussels and smash them open to the delight of the gulls that swoop in behind to devour the contents. Are these gulls knowingly dropping these mussels onto the road to be smashed by the cars and if so is this another example of a bird using a tool, in this case a mechanized tool?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>It is well known that Ring-tailed Pheasants are polygamous but I've never witnessed this behaviour before up close. Our male is standing sentry duty on the front lawn throughout the day. If I drew a line from the tip of his bill along his back and lined it up with his tail in two or three different locations I'm sure I could locate the nest(s) by simple triangulation. There are two possibly three females in his harem. Next month there may be as many as thirty chicks running around here.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I've posted a few photos starting with this morning's Savannah Sparrow singly shortly after dawn and finishing with yet another photo of our Ring-necked Pheasant on our front lawn.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hans</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><A href="http://www.hanstoom.com/Highlights/Highlights16.html">http://www.hanstoom.com/Highlights/Highlights16.html</A></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>When viewing images tap F11 or View Full Screen and use the navigation buttons on my website<BR>______________________________________________________________<BR>Hans Toom</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Portuguese Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada<BR>E-mail: <A href="mailto:htoom@hfx.eastlink.ca">htoom@hfx.eastlink.ca</A><BR>Migration Count: <A href="http://hanstoom.com/NAMC/Index.html">http://hanstoom.com/NAMC/Index.html</A><BR>Nature Website: http://hanstoom.com <BR>____________________________________________________________</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML> --Boundary_(ID_Ds2iXz3bC+uTzxt5uI+K0A)--
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