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Hi there,
I'm back home after five days visiting friends in
Margaretsville, where I spent the mornings atlassing and doing point
counts in that and several adjoining squares. The afternoons were
given over to weeding my friends' gardens. Lovely to be outdoors so
much in fine weather - with the Fundy breezes blowing, the heat was
never oppressive even on warm days.
Breeding activity among songbirds was at fever pitch, and
some species are so busy feeding young that they are completely
oblivious of humans. On the other hand the Ovenbirds in the woods,
normally elusive, were so agitated by my presence that they
interrupted their food-gathering to come out in plain view and scold
me. I particularly enjoyed watching a male Pileated Woodpecker
attending a nest in a big old sugar maple, and seeing Bobolinks
singing and displaying over the uncut meadows.
While exploring the back roads along the North Mountain, I
was struck by the abundance of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. They were
very easy to see, usually perched on telephone wires along the road,
apparently basking in the sun, perhaps one every kilometre or
so. This was in an area where there were no homes, so no feeders or
gardens to concentrate their numbers. I easily saw a dozen or more
every morning, without even trying. I have observed this
abundance in the area for the last several years. This seems
remarkable to me. When I was a child, before hummingbird feeders
were a commonplace, it was quite unusual and exciting to see a
hummingbird, even though we always had a flower-filled garden which
might have been expected to attract them.
I was also pleased to see a large number of butterflies last
week. I wasn't focussing on them and regretted that I didn't have my
field guide, as I am a little rusty with ID's, but there were lots of
fritillaries of several sorts along these dirt roads, as well as
White Admirals, Canadian Tiger Swallowtails, Northern Pearl
Crescents, Ringlets, and various skippers and azures. Not many sulphurs.
There was an interesting article in last Saturday's Globe
and Mail about changes to butterfly population and distribution. [
"LEPIDOPTERA: CANADA DAY COUNT:Ethereal, exotic and exceptionally
fragile" by Matthew Hart ] which gave a dismal outlook for the long
term. This year, at least, some species seem do be doing well in the
western end of the Valley. Do others find that is it a particularly
good year for seeing butterflies?
During my visit on the farm I averaged two ticks per day -
still a matter of comment there, where ten years ago we never
encountered any. I saved a couple to send in to the Museum.
Cheers,
Patricia L. Chalmers
Halifax
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Hi there,<br><br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>I'm back
home after five days visiting friends in Margaretsville, where I spent
the mornings atlassing and doing point counts in that and several
adjoining squares. The afternoons were given over to weeding my
friends' gardens. Lovely to be outdoors so much in fine weather -
with the Fundy breezes blowing, the heat was never oppressive even on
warm days.<br><br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>Breeding
activity among songbirds was at fever pitch, and some species are
so busy feeding young that they are completely oblivious of humans. On
the other hand the Ovenbirds in the woods, normally elusive, were so
agitated by my presence that they interrupted their food-gathering to
come out in plain view and scold me. I particularly enjoyed
watching a male Pileated Woodpecker attending a nest in a big old sugar
maple, and seeing Bobolinks singing and displaying over the uncut
meadows. <br><br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>While
exploring the back roads along the North Mountain, I was struck by the
abundance of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. They were very easy to
see, usually perched on telephone wires along the road, apparently
basking in the sun, perhaps one every kilometre or so. This was in
an area where there were no homes, so no feeders or gardens to
concentrate their numbers. I easily saw a dozen or more every
morning, without even trying. I have observed this abundance
in the area for the last several years. This seems remarkable to
me. When I was a child, before hummingbird feeders were a
commonplace, it was quite unusual and exciting to see a hummingbird, even
though we always had a flower-filled garden which might have been
expected to attract them.<br><br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>I was also
pleased to see a large number of butterflies last week. I wasn't
focussing on them and regretted that I didn't have my field guide, as I
am a little rusty with ID's, but there were lots of fritillaries of
several sorts along these dirt roads, as well as White Admirals, Canadian
Tiger Swallowtails, Northern Pearl Crescents, Ringlets, and various
skippers and azures. Not many sulphurs. <br><br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>There was
an interesting article in last Saturday's <u>Globe and Mail</u> about
changes to butterfly population and distribution. [
"LEPIDOPTERA: CANADA DAY COUNT:Ethereal, exotic and exceptionally
fragile" by Matthew Hart ] which gave a dismal outlook for the long
term. This year, at least, some species seem do be doing well in
the western end of the Valley. Do others find that is it a
particularly good year for seeing butterflies?<br><br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>During my
visit on the farm I averaged two ticks per day - still a matter of
comment there, where ten years ago we never encountered any. I
saved a couple to send in to the Museum.<br><br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>Cheers,<br>
<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>Patricia
L. Chalmers<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>
Halifax</body>
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