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font-family:Arial'>Cheer
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Responding to Cindy's musings...
When I was a kid, we called the sparkly bits at the water's edge =
"phosphoresence"... probably a misnomer, but it's descriptive.
The calls of willets have been a constant sound here in Osborne Harbour =
up until last week... they are noticeably absent now.
Shorebirds are not dumb. They will stay around if their favorite foods =
are in good supply. I have also wondered why piping plovers do not nest =
around Port Mouton Bay. The beaches provide extensive good habitat, and =
human traffic is light, especially in early spring when they arrive. =
Later in the fall there will be small mixed flocks of migrants on =
Carter's Beach, but nothing like the numbers that feed and rest at Louis =
Head, for example.
There is serious concern that salmon aquaculture has altered the natural =
populations in Port Mouton Bay. Nutrient loading from farm waste, algae =
blooms and unknown contributions of drugs and chemicals over 13 years =
have without doubt made an impact on the marine ecosystem. It is =
difficult to prove a cause and effect relationship, but you can bet that =
the birds have a clear reason for going somewhere else. "Red Tide" is a =
result of nutrient loading... if you catch my drift.
For more on this subject see:
http://www.friendsofportmoutonbay.ca/
Gloria
----- Original Message -----=20
From: Cindy Creighton=20
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca=20
Sent: Monday, August 04, 2008 1:50 PM
Subject: [NatureNS] Red Tide?? Interesting Walk on Carter's Beach at =
Night
Hi All:
Jeff and I were walking on Carter=92s Beach in Port Mouton at night on =
Saturday night and we saw a very interesting sight =96 little =
luminescent green specks in the sand with the incoming tide. We saw =
them right at the water=92s edge, when a wave receded these things were =
left behind. We tried to pick some up to figure out what they were =
using a flashlight to go through the grains of sand, and all I could see =
was a little white thing that looked a piece of a shell, but it was very =
flat and elongated. Once disturbed by me shining the light on it and =
sorting through the sand with my finger it stopped glowing. I did a =
Google search to try and find out what they were and Red Tide kept =
coming up. Could this be a red tide?
Shorebird question:
I=92ve been going to Carter=92s Beach for years and there are Willets =
that breed there every year. When we were there in July, we saw the =
Willets and their fledglings feeding in the marsh behind the beach. =
This time, there was no sign of any of them. Would they have headed =
south already? Also, we didn=92t see any shorebirds of any type here. =
Why would shorebirds not be present on this beach? Do they follow =
certain migratory paths and Carter=92s Beach happens to be outside that =
path? Or maybe it=92s too early yet?
As a side note, the birds we did see here were:
Common Nighthawk
Common Terns
Great Black-backed Gulls
Herring Gulls
DC Cormorant
Song Sparrows
Cheers,
Cindy
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG.
Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 270.5.6/1579 - Release Date: =
7/29/2008 6:43 AM
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<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Responding to Cindy's =
musings...</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>When I was a kid, we called the sparkly =
bits at the=20
water's edge "phosphoresence"... probably a misnomer, but it's=20
descriptive.</FONT></DIV></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>The calls of willets have been a =
constant sound=20
here in Osborne Harbour up until last week... they are noticeably absent =
now.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Shorebirds are not dumb. They will stay =
around if=20
their favorite foods are in good supply. I have also wondered why piping =
plovers=20
do not nest around Port Mouton Bay. The beaches provide extensive good =
habitat,=20
and human traffic is light, especially in early spring when they arrive. =
Later=20
in the fall there will be small mixed flocks of migrants on Carter's =
Beach, but=20
nothing like the numbers that feed and rest at Louis Head, for=20
example.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>There is serious concern that salmon =
aquaculture=20
has altered the natural populations in Port Mouton Bay. Nutrient loading =
from=20
farm waste, algae blooms and unknown contributions of drugs and =
chemicals over=20
13 years have without doubt made an impact on the marine ecosystem. =
It is=20
difficult to prove a cause and effect relationship, but you can bet that =
the=20
birds have a clear reason for going somewhere else. "Red Tide" is a =
result of=20
nutrient loading... if you catch my drift.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>For more on this subject =
see:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2><A=20
href=3D"http://www.friendsofportmoutonbay.ca/">http://www.friendsofportmo=
utonbay.ca/</A></FONT><