next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects
This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --Boundary_(ID_Yw9En91VpwmkJ+8A2wPhOA) Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Ken McKenna Box 218 Stellarton NS B0K 1S0 902 752-7644 Hi all I made a series of trips to Big I. this past weekend. On Sat. Aug. 22, it was already 25C when I arrived at 07:40. Birding was so so with 50 species recorded by the time I left at 12:50 when it was extremely warm- I think it was about 35C on my vehicle thermometer. The tide was on the rise and there was a nice collection of shorebirds at the east corner of the causeway being eyed by a Merlin perched on a power-line. A summary of shorebirds for the day is at the end. The ocean side of the causeway was very quiet bird-wise. Highlights from the island: Bonaparte's Gulls-175; Bobolinks-4; Rose-breasted Grosbeak-1; There were only 6 warbler species incl. 1 Ovenbird. I made a quick trip as the wind shifted to NE late Sunday afternoon. The wind was very strong > 60 km/h with gusts well in excess, and was very difficult to get a good view of the Strait without getting optics wet. However, other than a few Gannets, there did not seem to be anything brought in by the winds from Hurricane Bill. I arrived at 0740 again on Monday Aug. 24. Winds had been strong NE last evening and it was cooler- 15C. I observed 62 species but it started to rain at 11:00 and I tried to bird in the rain for about an hour but I left just as the shorebirds were being pushed up at the first corner to the east end of the causeway but was surprised to add a number of new species including and adult CASPIAN TERN just as I was leaving. The NE winds brought in my first fall season RED-NECKED GREBE, but it was still pretty lonely out on the ocean side. The very strong winds from the night before were not sustained long enough to bring in ocean birds and I did not even see a Gannet today. I saw 9 warbler species including 4 Chestnut-sided in fall plumage. One of these had really strong chestnut side. Where there was only one Robin on Sat., there were 40 Monday. The big salt marsh was being patrolled by 4 Northern Harriers all young of the year. I am sure if the rain had held I would have seen quit a few more species on the Island. Shorebirds Aug. 22,24 Black-bellied Plover 31 20 Semipalmated Plover 34 35 Greater Yellowlegs 3 9 Lesser Yellowlegs 81 84 Willet 9 7 Whimbrel 2 2 Ruddy Turnstone 6 0 Red Knot 0 4 Sanderling 2 0 Semipalmated Sandpiper 125 94 Least sandpiper 24 15 White-rumped Sandpiper 1 2 Pectoral Sandpiper 0 2 Short-billed Dowicher 0 5 cheers Ken --Boundary_(ID_Yw9En91VpwmkJ+8A2wPhOA) Content-type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type> <META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.18812"> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Ken McKenna<BR>Box 218 Stellarton NS<BR>B0K 1S0<BR>902 752-7644</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Hi all</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>I made a series of trips to Big I. this past weekend. On Sat. Aug. 22, it was already 25C when I arrived at 07:40. Birding was so so with 50 species recorded by the time I left at 12:50 when it was extremely warm- I think it was about 35C on my vehicle thermometer. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>The tide was on the rise and there was a nice collection of shorebirds at the east corner of the causeway being eyed by a Merlin perched on a power-line. A summary of shorebirds for the day is at the end. The ocean side of the causeway was very quiet bird-wise. Highlights from the island: </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Bonaparte's Gulls-175; Bobolinks-4; Rose-breasted Grosbeak-1; </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>There were only 6 warbler species incl. 1 Ovenbird. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>I made a quick trip as the wind shifted to NE late Sunday afternoon. The wind was very strong > 60 km/h with gusts well in excess, and was very difficult to get a good view of the Strait without getting optics wet. However, other than a few Gannets, there did not seem to be anything brought in by the winds from Hurricane Bill. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>I arrived at 0740 again on Monday Aug. 24. Winds had been strong NE last evening and it was cooler- 15C. I observed 62 species but it started to rain at 11:00 and I tried to bird in the rain for about an hour but I left just as the shorebirds were being pushed up at the first corner to the east end of the causeway but was surprised to add a number of new species including and adult CASPIAN TERN just as I was leaving. The NE winds brought in my first fall season RED-NECKED GREBE, but it was still pretty lonely out on the ocean side. The very strong winds from the night before were not sustained long enough to bring in ocean birds and I did not even see a Gannet today. I saw 9 warbler species including 4 Chestnut-sided in fall plumage. One of these had really strong chestnut side. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Where there was only one Robin on Sat., there were 40 Monday. The big salt marsh was being patrolled by 4 Northern Harriers all young of the year. I am sure if the rain had held I would have seen quit a few more species on the Island. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Shorebirds Aug. 22,24</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Black-bellied Plover 31 20</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Semipalmated Plover 34 35</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Greater Yellowlegs 3 9</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Lesser Yellowlegs 81 84</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Willet 9 7</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Whimbrel 2 2</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Ruddy Turnstone 6 0</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Red Knot 0 4</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Sanderling 2 0</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Semipalmated Sandpiper 125 94</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Least sandpiper 24 15</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>White-rumped Sandpiper 1 2</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Pectoral Sandpiper 0 2</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Short-billed Dowicher 0 5</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>cheers</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Ken</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML> --Boundary_(ID_Yw9En91VpwmkJ+8A2wPhOA)--
next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects