[NatureNS] Summary Thanksgiving weekend Seal I. (long)

Date: Tue, 09 Dec 2008 07:40:53 -0400
From: Ken McKenna <kenmcken@eastlink.ca>
To: NatureNS <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
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Ken McKenna
Box 218 Stellarton NS
B0K 1S0
902 752-7644
Hi all
I have had this in my drafts folder for awhile, but finally got around to completing it. It is a bit long, but has a number of good sightings as well as good numbers of some species migrating,  some in reverse. It is a bird report although I remember a few monarchs, red redmirals and american coppers. 

A group spent a long Thanksgiving weekend on Seal I. and it delivered a very nice picture of fall bird migration. The boat ride out Oct. 9 was a bit too rough ( unintentional chumming for some birders) for any birding and one unidentified seabird remained as such. On land there was not a lot of time for much birding, but just before dusk, a Marsh Wren and an American Bittern were noted. 

Friday, Oct. 10 had steady birding with about 76 species tallied by the group. Highlights were 25 Peregrine Falcon, 56 N. Flicker,  3 HOUSE WREN,  2 BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER,  2 INDIGO BUNTING,  10 RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER,  1 CLAY-COLOURED SPARROW, 1 FIELD SPARROW and 11 RUSTY BLACKBIRD. There were 4 Western Palm Warblers out of ~20 Palms, a ratio that held for the 3 full days we were on Seal,  and 1 Orange-crowned Warbler. 

Saturday. Oct. 11 saw a huge migration of Pine Siskins (2000+) and Yellow-rumped Warblers( 500+). Peregrine Falcon numbers were down slightly with an estimated 15 present. Four Common Snipe were present. After not seeing any thrushes on Friday, 4 Hermit Thrushes and a couple of Robins were noted. A co-operative Black-throated Blue Warbler, 4 Orange-crowned Warblers and a Yellow-breasted Chat seen by Fulton Lavender were the highlights of the 10 warbler species noted. Single male and female Northern Cardinals a Rose-breasted Grosbeak, 3 BLUE-GREY GNATCHERS, 1 CLAY-COLOURED SPARROW, 1 DICKCISSEL and 6 RED-BELLIED WOODPECKERS were nice additions to the days observations. Baltimore Oriole(5) and White-winged Crossbill (50) numbers were up considerably from the previous day where only 1-2 were noted. Twenty European Starlings made their way to the island as well. The days species total was 87. 

Sunday (Oct. 12) saw a continuation of the large movement of Pine Siskins although maybe not quite as many as the day before, but still at least 1500. White-winged Crossbill numbers ballooned to 300 and Goldfinches went from 50 the day before to 250. Purple Finch numbers were up but still only about 20 seen. Double-crested Cormorants were also more numerous passing by off-shore with at least 500 noted.  Flickers were everywhere with at least 90 present as well as 5 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. Sparrow numbers sky-rocketed from the previous days numbers in brackets and included 20 Chipping (7), 1 CLAY-COLOURED (1),  2 LARK SPARROWS (0), 40 Savannah (18), 5 Ipswich (3), 1 Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow(4),  60 Song (25),  10 Lincolns (2),  40 Swamp (20), 200 White-throated (20),  60 White-crowned (25),  30 Junco (10) , and 1 Lapland Longspur (0). This was a really nice way to study sparrows with such a great variety of birds around every corner. 
A BROWN THRASHER was an early morning visitor in the West Village and ended up in the area of the traps at the wharf before it disappeared not to be seen again that day. Rusty Blackbirds increased to 20. American Pipits to 60, and 4 Eastern Phoebes, 7 Horned Larks and 1 WARBLING VIREO were added to the trip list. There were 8 species of warbler on Sunday with 6 Orange-crowned and the only Black and White of the trip the warbler highlights.Yellow-rumps (200+) and Palms ( 40 eastern and 3 western) dominated, but there were also 25 Common Yellowthroat up considerably from 7 on Friday. It was truly a great day of birding and to add to the excitement most of us participated in a big sit organized by Don MacNeill geting a nice tally from a small circle in a clearing where we could see passerines passing through as well as waterbirds on the pond, seabirds over the ocean and hawks passing over the marsh. A total of 92 species were noted today and 57 for the big sit. 

 Monday, Oct. 13 was our day for packing and departing the island. The winds were quite strong from the north and the little early birding did not produce much in the way of new birds. The boat trip back did not produce anything too unusual and the trip was less turbulent than the trip out. It was a great weekend of birding and for me at least the best birding I have had on Seal.  A total of 109 birds noted not including the Turkeys. 
cheers
Ken

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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ken McKenna<BR>Box 218 Stellarton NS<BR>B0K 
1S0<BR>902 752-7644<BR>Hi all</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I have had this in my drafts folder for awhile, but 
finally got around to completing it. It is a bit long, but has a number of good 
sightings as well as good numbers of some species migrating, &nbsp;some in 
reverse. It is a bird report although I remember a few monarchs, red redmirals 
and american coppers. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>A group spent a long Thanksgiving weekend on Seal 
I. and it delivered a very nice picture of fall&nbsp;bird migration. The boat 
ride out Oct. 9 was a bit too rough ( unintentional chumming for some 
birders)&nbsp;for any birding and one unidentified seabird remained as such. On 
land there was not a lot of time for much birding, but just before dusk, a Marsh 
Wren and an American Bittern were noted. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Friday, Oct. 10 had steady birding with about 76 
species tallied by the group. Highlights were 25 Peregrine Falcon, 56 N. 
Flicker,&nbsp; 3 HOUSE WREN,&nbsp; 2 BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER, &nbsp;2 INDIGO 
BUNTING,&nbsp; 10 RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER,&nbsp; 1 CLAY-COLOURED SPARROW, 1 FIELD 
SPARROW&nbsp;and 11 RUSTY BLACKBIRD. There were 4 Western Palm Warblers out of 
~20 Palms, a ratio that held for the 3 full days we were on Seal,&nbsp;&nbsp;and 
1 Orange-crowned Warbler. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Saturday. Oct. 11 saw a huge migration of Pine 
Siskins (2000+) and Yellow-rumped Warblers( 500+). Peregrine Falcon numbers were 
down slightly with an estimated 15 present. Four Common Snipe were present. 
After not seeing any thrushes on Friday, 4 Hermit Thrushes and a couple of 
Robins were noted. A co-operative Black-throated Blue Warbler, 4 Orange-crowned 
Warblers and a Yellow-breasted Chat seen by Fulton Lavender were the highlights 
of the 10 warbler species noted. Single male and female Northern Cardinals a 
Rose-breasted Grosbeak, 3 BLUE-GREY GNATCHERS,&nbsp;1 CLAY-COLOURED SPARROW, 1 
DICKCISSEL&nbsp;and 6 RED-BELLIED WOODPECKERS were nice additions to the days 
observations. Baltimore Oriole(5) and White-winged Crossbill (50) numbers were 
up considerably from the previous day where only 1-2 were noted. Twenty European 
Starlings made their way to the island as well. The days species total was 87. 
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sunday (Oct. 12) saw a continuation of the large 
movement of Pine Siskins although maybe not quite as many as the day before, but 
still at least 1500. White-winged Crossbill numbers ballooned to 300 and 
Goldfinches went from 50 the day before to 250. Purple Finch numbers were up but 
still only about 20 seen. Double-crested Cormorants were also more numerous 
passing by off-shore with at least 500 noted. &nbsp;Flickers were everywhere 
with at least 90 present as well as 5 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. Sparrow numbers 
sky-rocketed from the previous days numbers in brackets and included 20 Chipping 
(7), 1 CLAY-COLOURED (1), &nbsp;2 LARK SPARROWS (0), 40 Savannah (18), 5 Ipswich 
(3), 1 Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow(4), &nbsp;60 Song (25),&nbsp; 10 Lincolns 
(2),&nbsp; 40 Swamp (20), 200 White-throated (20),&nbsp; 60 White-crowned 
(25),&nbsp; 30 Junco (10)&nbsp;, and&nbsp;1 Lapland Longspur (0). This was a 
really nice way to study sparrows with such a great variety of birds around 
every corner. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>A BROWN THRASHER was an early morning visitor in 
the&nbsp;West&nbsp;Village and ended up in the area of the traps at the wharf 
before it disappeared not to be seen again that day. Rusty Blackbirds increased 
to 20. American Pipits to 60, and 4 Eastern Phoebes, 7 Horned Larks&nbsp;and 1 
WARBLING VIREO were added to the trip list.&nbsp;There were 8 species of warbler 
on Sunday with 6 Orange-crowned and the only Black and White of the trip the 
warbler&nbsp;highlights.Yellow-rumps (200+) and Palms&nbsp;( 40 eastern and 3 
western)&nbsp;dominated, but there were also 25 Common Yellowthroat up 
considerably from 7 on Friday. It was truly a great day of birding and to add to 
the excitement most of us participated in a big sit organized by Don MacNeill 
geting a nice tally from a small circle in a clearing where we could see 
passerines passing through as well as waterbirds on the pond, seabirds over the 
ocean and hawks passing over the marsh. A total of 92 species were noted today 
and 57 for the big sit. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>&nbsp;Monday, Oct. 13 was our day for packing and 
departing the island. The winds were quite strong from the north and the little 
early birding did not produce much in the way of new birds. The boat trip back 
did not produce anything too unusual and the trip was less turbulent than the 
trip out. It was a great weekend of birding and for me at least the best birding 
I have had on Seal.&nbsp; A total of 109 birds noted not including the Turkeys. 
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>cheers</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ken</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>

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