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This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --Boundary_(ID_gtErUly5AF+HIlT38jrvAw) Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Hi all, Sambro Island is in the Chebucto Head Atlas square of the Maritime Breeding Bird Atlas project. This square hosts a number of birding hotspots which are especially productive in the fall, including; Portuguese Cove, our back yard, Chebucto Head, Duncan's Cove, Duncan Reef, Ketch Harbour, Sandy Cove, Sambro Head, Sambro Harbour, Sambro Creek, Crystal Crescent Beach Provincial Park, the coastal barrens of the Pennant Peninsula, Inner Sambro Island and the captioned Sambro Island. I've suspected for some time that Sambro Island hosted breeding colonies but confirming this required a site visit. But, visiting the island is a challenge due to the notorious fog and dreaded south-west winds which occur during the breeding season of early June to mid July. Yesterday nine of us enjoyed a little under four hours of cruising the waters between Sambro Head and Sambro Island and walking the island itself. The island is worth the visit just for the historical significance and natural beauty of the place. The flora and fauna are a bonus. There were two ancient cannons by the light, a story in themselves, no doubt. There are breeding colonies, all confirmed, of Artic Tern(80+), Black Guillemot(60+), Double-crested Cormorant(60+), Great Black-backed Gull(250+), Herring Gull(50+) and Common Eider(100+). I'll have a better idea about numbers when I look at some of my photographs. In one location we spotted 24 Black Guillemots floating together. Counting this species is tricky and it will probably be underrepresented since they are cavity nesting on the island, so many or most of them will always be out of sight. Spotted Sandpiper, Savannah Sparrow and Rock Pigeon also inhabit the island. We spotted a whale and two Gray Seals on the return leg. Hans _________________________________ Hans Toom Portuguese Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada Website: http://hanstoom.com Pbase: http://pbase.com/snahmoot _________________________________ --Boundary_(ID_gtErUly5AF+HIlT38jrvAw) 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 6.00.6000.16674" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi all,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sambro Island is in the Chebucto Head Atlas square of the Maritime Breeding Bird Atlas project. This square hosts a number of birding hotspots which are especially productive in the fall, including; Portuguese Cove, our back yard, Chebucto Head, Duncan's Cove, Duncan Reef, Ketch Harbour, Sandy Cove, Sambro Head, Sambro Harbour, Sambro Creek, Crystal Crescent Beach Provincial Park, the coastal barrens of the Pennant Peninsula, Inner Sambro Island and the captioned Sambro Island.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I've suspected for some time that Sambro Island hosted breeding colonies but confirming this required a site visit. But, visiting the island is a challenge due to the notorious fog and dreaded south-west winds which occur during the breeding season of early June to mid July. Yesterday nine of us enjoyed a little under four hours of cruising the waters between Sambro Head and Sambro Island and walking the island itself. The island is worth the visit just for the historical significance and natural beauty of the place. The flora and fauna are a bonus. There were two ancient cannons by the light, a story in themselves, no doubt.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>There are breeding colonies, all confirmed, of <STRONG>Artic Tern(</STRONG>80+), <STRONG>Black Guillemot</STRONG>(60+), <STRONG>Double-crested Cormorant</STRONG>(60+), <STRONG>Great Black-backed Gull</STRONG>(250+), <STRONG>Herring Gull</STRONG>(50+) and <STRONG>Common Eider</STRONG>(100+). I'll have a better idea about numbers when I look at some of my photographs. In one location we spotted 24 Black Guillemots floating together. Counting this species is tricky and it will probably be underrepresented since they are cavity nesting on the island, so many or most of them will always be out of sight. <STRONG>Spotted Sandpiper</STRONG>, <STRONG>Savannah Sparrow</STRONG> and <STRONG>Rock Pigeon</STRONG> also inhabit the island. We spotted a whale and two <STRONG>Gray Seals</STRONG> on the return leg.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hans</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>_________________________________<BR>Hans Toom<BR>Portuguese Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada<BR>Website: <A href="http://hanstoom.com">http://hanstoom.com</A> <BR>Pbase: <A href="http://pbase.com/snahmoot">http://pbase.com/snahmoot</A><BR>_________________________________</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML> --Boundary_(ID_gtErUly5AF+HIlT38jrvAw)--
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