[NatureNS] Scatarie Island, off Cape Breton

Date: Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:35:34 -0300
From: David McCorquodale <david_mccorquodale@cbu.ca>
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
Thread-topic: Scatarie Island, off Cape Breton
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Two of us, David Harris and David McCorquodale, spent two full days on
Scatarie Island, off Main-a-Dieu, Cape Breton, doing point counts and
general atlassing from Friday afternoon (27 June) to Sunday morning (29
June).=20
=20
One of our goals was to find nesting Leach=B9s Storm-petrels in all four atla=
s
squares. Successful.  In fact we counted 3 nests on two separate point
counts.  They were first detected by odour and then the holes found during
the 5 minutes.  Being nocturnal, even on very early morning point counts th=
e
adults are either sitting tight under ground or foraging far offshore.
=20
Another goal was to refind Bicknell=B9s Thrush on the island -- not
successful.
=20
Terrestrial birds were sparse.  We did hear a few Fox Sparrows, Lincoln=B9s
Sparrows, Savannah Sparrows, Blackpoll Warblers, Golden-crowned Kinglets,
Nashville Warblers, Boreal Chickadees and Swainson=B9s Thrushes.  The lack of
White-throated Sparrows and Palm Warblers was surprising.  On one point
count we tallied only two individuals, two distant ravens.
=20
The terrestrial surprise was hearing Ring-necked Pheasants in two places on
two days in the priority square.  Apparently they have been on the island
for a few years.  We saw no Spruce Grouse and the imported ptarmigan have
been gone for years.

Expected were three Whimbrel on Saturday morning near Eastern Head.
=20
In some of the dense balsam woods Heart-leaved Listera (Listera cordata) wa=
s
the most common vascular plant on the forest floor.  Blunt-leaved Orchid
(Platanthera obtusata) and Arethusa (Arethusa bulbosa) were two other
frequently seen orchids.
=20
The most impressive sights were offshore.  Capelin were running and the
seabirds, gray seals and whales (Minke and Fin) were around to take
advantage.  A colony of about 50 pairs of Black-legged Kittiwakes will
provide their young with capelin for the next week or so.  Our estimate is
that more than 5,000 Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls were on the
Eastern Head, mostly loafing and digesting after short forays to grab a few
more capelin. Offshore more than 1,000 of Northern Gannets (more than 95%
immatures), many hundreds of Sooty Shearwaters and a hundred or more Greate=
r
Shearwaters congregated where the capelin were.
=20

DBMcC

David McCorquodale
Department of Biology
Cape Breton University
Box 5300, 1250 Grand Lake Rd., Sydney, NS B1P 6L2, CANADA
902-563-1260    david_mccorquodale@cbu.ca  FAX: 902-563-1880

Department of Biology, Cape Breton University
http://discovery.capebretonu.ca/biology
http://www.cbufa.ca/news

Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods)
http://www.biology.ualberta.ca/bsc/bschome.htm


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<HEAD>
<TITLE>Scatarie Island, off Cape Breton</TITLE>
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<BODY>
<FONT FACE="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:12.0px'>Two of us, David Harris and David McCorquodale, spent two full days on Scatarie Island, off Main-a-Dieu, Cape Breton, doing point counts and general atlassing from Friday afternoon (27 June) to Sunday morning (29 June). <BR>
&nbsp;<BR>
One of our goals was to find nesting Leach&#8217;s Storm-petrels in all four atlas squares. Successful. &nbsp;In fact we counted 3 nests on two separate point counts. &nbsp;They were first detected by odour and then the holes found during the 5 minutes. &nbsp;Being nocturnal, even on very early morning point counts the adults are either sitting tight under ground or foraging far offshore. &nbsp;<BR>
&nbsp;<BR>
Another goal was to refind Bicknell&#8217;s Thrush on the island -- not successful.<BR>
&nbsp;<BR>
Terrestrial birds were sparse. &nbsp;We did hear a few Fox Sparrows, Lincoln&#8217;s Sparrows, Savannah Sparrows, Blackpoll Warblers, Golden-crowned Kinglets, Nashville Warblers, Boreal Chickadees and Swainson&#8217;s Thrushes. &nbsp;The lack of White-throated Sparrows and Palm Warblers was surprising. &nbsp;On one point count we tallied only two individuals, two distant ravens.<BR>
&nbsp;<BR>
The terrestrial surprise was hearing Ring-necked Pheasants in two places on two days in the priority square. &nbsp;Apparently they have been on the island for a few years. &nbsp;We saw no Spruce Grouse and the imported ptarmigan have been gone for years.<BR>
<BR>
Expected were three Whimbrel on Saturday morning near Eastern Head.<BR>
&nbsp;<BR>
In some of the dense balsam woods Heart-leaved Listera (<I>Listera cordata</I>) was the most common vascular plant on the forest floor. &nbsp;Blunt-leaved Orchid (<I>Platanthera obtusata</I>) and Arethusa (<I>Arethusa bulbosa</I>) were two other frequently seen orchids. <BR>
&nbsp;<BR>
The most impressive sights were offshore. &nbsp;Capelin were running and the seabirds, gray seals and whales (Minke and Fin) were around to take advantage. &nbsp;A colony of about 50 pairs of Black-legged Kittiwakes will provide their young with capelin for the next week or so. &nbsp;Our estimate is that more than 5,000 Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls were on the Eastern Head, mostly loafing and digesting after short forays to grab a few more capelin. Offshore more than 1,000 of Northern Gannets (more than 95% immatures), many hundreds of Sooty Shearwaters and a hundred or more Greater Shearwaters congregated where the capelin were. <BR>
&nbsp;<BR>
<BR>
DBMcC<BR>
<BR>
David McCorquodale<BR>
Department of Biology<BR>
Cape Breton University<BR>
Box 5300, 1250 Grand Lake Rd., Sydney, NS B1P 6L2, CANADA<BR>
902-563-1260 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;david_mccorquodale@cbu.ca &nbsp;FAX: 902-563-1880<BR>
<BR>
Department of Biology, Cape Breton University<BR>
http://discovery.capebretonu.ca/biology<BR>
http://www.cbufa.ca/news<BR>
<BR>
Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods)<BR>
http://www.biology.ualberta.ca/bsc/bschome.htm<BR>
</SPAN></FONT>
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