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> This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible. --Boundary_(ID_qP1XzFEYobtjXkRWNX93pQ) Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable 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 --Boundary_(ID_qP1XzFEYobtjXkRWNX93pQ) Content-type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT <HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Scatarie Island, off Cape Breton</TITLE> </HEAD> <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> <BR> One of our goals was to find nesting Leach’s Storm-petrels in all four atlas 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 the adults are either sitting tight under ground or foraging far offshore. <BR> <BR> Another goal was to refind Bicknell’s Thrush on the island -- not successful.<BR> <BR> Terrestrial birds were sparse. We did hear a few Fox Sparrows, Lincoln’s Sparrows, Savannah Sparrows, Blackpoll Warblers, Golden-crowned Kinglets, Nashville Warblers, Boreal Chickadees and Swainson’s Thrushes. The lack of White-throated Sparrows and Palm Warblers was surprising. On one point count we tallied only two individuals, two distant ravens.<BR> <BR> 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.<BR> <BR> Expected were three Whimbrel on Saturday morning near Eastern Head.<BR> <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. Blunt-leaved Orchid (<I>Platanthera obtusata</I>) and Arethusa (<I>Arethusa bulbosa</I>) were two other frequently seen orchids. <BR> <BR> 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 Greater Shearwaters congregated where the capelin were. <BR> <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 david_mccorquodale@cbu.ca 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> </BODY> </HTML> --Boundary_(ID_qP1XzFEYobtjXkRWNX93pQ)--
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