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Index of Subjects Hi there, I went for a walk after work in Point Pleasant Park today. It was sunny and warm (18 according to CBC), and not so windy as it has been the last few days. I checked out the wetland on Birch Road, hoping for a second look at the Yellow-headed Blackbird, but while I saw a number of Grackles their western visitor was not around. If, as Fulton says, one has to think like a bird, I think the thing to do is to look for a nice cattail marsh, instead of the wooded black-water swamp in the Park. The nearest cattail marsh to PPP, as a bird flies, is across the Northwest Arm at the Frog Pond in Fleming Park. Maybe the bird should be sought there. This was my first walk in PPP in several months. Starlings have fledged and the open-mouthed noisy young birds were all over the lawns, chasing after their harassed parents. There were as usual lots of Juncos and White-throated Sparrows, all bustling about in the underbrush where I am sure there were nests. Goldfinches and Robins were singing. A Northern Flicker and a Hairy Woodpecker were active. I was delighted to have excellent views of a male Pileated Woodpecker at work on some standing dead trees on Pine Road. As I watched him in my binoculars, a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird flew close by him, affording a great contrast! It was surprising though that I didn't hear a single warbler during my time in the park - not even one Yellow-rumped, which I would think would be abundant there by now. The smaller wetland near the lower (Seawall) parking lot is the site of an experiment to control Japanese Knotweed. Thick black plastic sheets have been laid over the patch which surrounded the pond, and this mass of plastic sheeting, in irregular humps as the vigorous plants are still struggling to grow underneath, is an odd sight. I saw both a White-crowned Sparrow and a Northern Waterthrush at this pond last May - no appeal there now for birds! It will be interesting to see if the experiment is successful. Cheers, Patricia L. Chalmers Halifax
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