[NatureNS] Bird arrivals, Brier Island

Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2008 20:58:02 -0300
From: Eric Mills <e.mills@dal.ca>
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
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I found Ian McLaren's comments on the dearth of birds in Halifax today very interesting. 

Anne and I spent the long holiday weekend and overnight this Saturday-Sunday on Brier Island, centering on a business 
trip to New Brunswick during the week. 

This morning well before dawn, the Lighthouse Road and Northern Point Road on Brier Island were alive with birds that I 
identified in the car headlights - at least 20 Hermit Thrushes, hundreds of White-throats, Song Sparrows and Juncos, 
along with a few Fox Sparrows, Chippies and Savannah Sparrows. As the light increased, they disappeared into the 
alders, but the Northern Point area was still alive with the calls of the sparrows and juncos, and significant numbers of 
Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets appeared, along with flock after flock of Robins moving northward off the 
island (perhaps 500 in all). As the morning progressed, flocks of Grackles came in from the south, some settling on the 
island, but perhaps 250 moving on northward to somewhere else. Myrtle Warblers (I estimated 200+, a small fraction of 
the total) were moving through the spruces and alders and calling everywhere. Flocks of Siskins swept in, moved on and 
were replaced by others all over the island. 

This was a dramatic event, but insignificant in comparison with what we saw in the same places on Sunday the 12th. I'll 
try to summarize that during the next day or two. 
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Eric L. Mills 
286 Kingsburg Road
RR#1, Rose Bay, Nova Scotia B0J 2X0, CANADA
E.Mills@Dal.Ca
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

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