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27 Oct 2007 Hans Toom and I spent 0930 - 1100 at Duncan's Reef, at Duncan's Cove. We'd gone to check for landbird migrants, and with the southerly wind had not expected any seabirds to be moving. But when we ventured out along the shoreline at Duncan's Reef, there were streams of gannets passing by, and as we stopped to count them we were pleased and surprised to also encounter a good variety of other seabirds in migration. Here is our count: Red-throated Loon - 7 Common Loon - 4 Northern Gannet - 2500++ Double-crested Cormorant - 15 Great Cormorant - 2 Greater Scaup - 3 Common Eider - 600 (400 migrating, 200 in local flocks) Harlequin Duck - 5 Oldsquaw - 13 Black Scoter - 10 Surf Scoter - 12 White-winged Scoter - 25 Red-breasted Merganser - 4 skua sp. - 1 Black-legged Kittiwake - 2 Black Guillemot - 4 Atlantic Puffin - 8 On Duncan's Reef proper there was a lone Purple Sandpiper, the first I've heard reported this autumn. A dozen Snow Buntings were feeding nearby, and a lone longspur flew south overhead. The Ipswich Sparrow that Hans found four days earlier was still present. The woods were almost migrant-free, but there were three Hairy Woodpeckers in active flight, acting as if they were recent arrivals off the ocean. Afterwards we made a brief stop at Chebucto Head, where, in addition to many more gannets, we had 10 Surf Scoters and a single Razorbill. Sandy Cove was very quiet, with two Semipalmated Plovers the only highlight. The seawatch was definitely the highlight of the morning. Duncan's Reef rocks! Cheers, and good birding, ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blake Maybank maybank@ns.sympatico.ca Editor, "Nova Scotia Birds" author, "Birding Sites of Nova Scotia" http://maybank.tripod.com/BSNS.htm 144 Bayview Drive White's Lake, Nova Scotia, B3T 1Z1, Canada (902) 852-2077 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.15.12/1096 - Release Date: 27/10/2007 11:02 AM
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