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This past week here in Wolfville we have been honoured and delighted to entertain delegates to the annual Canada Nature 2007 Time and Tide conference. Many field trips were scheduled early in the morning, afternoons, and some in the evening. Thursday, Saturday and Sunday mornings at 6:15am I repeated my favourite walk out onto the Bishop-Beckwith dykelands which start at the end of the Victoria Avenue Extension just across the now defunct railway system. All three mornings my guests were able to hear, at least, the odd fizzy call of Nelson's Sharp tailed Sparrow, and for some it was a "ticker". On Sunday morning we were able to see some, but only briefly, as they do not light for long! On Thursday morning a Pied Billed Grebe was also heard calling by Eve Marshall, head of Bird Proctection Quebec, probably from the sewage ponds, but we did not have time to go out that far to see if we could see it. Eve is heading up the Nature Canada 2008 event at McGill on June 12-15. On Saturday morning, sharp eyed Wendy McDonald noticed a bird struggling against the gusty winds blowing down the Cornwallis River, trying to land on the half tide below us amongst a flock of swallows which were probably Bank Swallows but not really possible to ID. I found it unusual to see them skimming the top of the water, because it was salt water!!?? The bird, which Wendy had noticed as different amongst the swallows, turned out to be a Red Phalarope and was seen well by Wendy, myself and Judy Tufts. On Sunday morning our highlights were a flock of 6 Canada Geese in flight, probably a family group, and Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs in Wolfville Harbour on our way back to the dining hall . They were dining, too, on critters in a recently exposed bit of mud, standing shoulder to shoulder, so the contrast in size was noticeable, two Lesser to 4 or 5 Greater. Each group was disappointed not to be able to see and hear Bobolinks. Our dyke is super cultivated, so there are no longer hay fields as in the Bellaisle Marsh before Annapolis Royal. There are a few Bobolink further out in the Hortonville area, JET
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