[NatureNS] Point Pleasant Park birds

Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 00:28:09 -0300
To: NatureNS <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
From: "P.L. Chalmers" <plchalmers@ns.sympatico.ca>
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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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