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Index of Subjects I had a late pair of Cliff Swallows fledge from my colony at Grand Manan on 28 Aug. Quite a few pairs (at least 50%) apparently failed and renested due to the inclement June weather. Most years, they are all done by mid-August at the latest. Cliff Swallows usually have only one brood, but I think they can have two here. Anyway, there is a well-established history of vagrancy in this species in early Oct. every fall in the east, some years much more so. Such as at East Point, PEI, on 7 October 2004, when a flock estimated at 800+ Cliff Swallows were seen at one time (D. Oakley, V. Laux). There are probably some on the Avalon right now. B. Dalzell, Tatamagouche, NS. -------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Ken McKenna <kenmcken@eastlink.ca> wrote: > > Ken McKenna > Box 218 Stellarton NS > B0K 1S0 > 902 752-7644 > Hi all > With a little break in the rain yesterday afternoon ( Sat. Oct. 10), I went to Big I. I met Charlie Kendell there and we were able to get in almost 3 hours of birding before it started to rain again around 6 p.m. > We tallied 44 species with nothing unusually rare. There were 3 Great Cormorants, and 8 Swallows flying over the causeway to the Island. There was 1 Barn Swallow and 7 Cliff Swallows. I think I ruled out Cave Swallow as the rump patch was quite pale. Hard to tell if there are late nesters or migrants. Barn Swallows do nest on the Island and Cliff Swallows nearby in Egerton but I would have thought these birds would have moved out well before this although both are known to have late nests and these birds seemed to be young of the year. > Hermit Thrush was the only thrush noted, but we saw at least 6 of these and I suspect they are migrating through. > Only 3 species of shorebird were noted, 3 Black-bellied Plover, 6 Greater Yellowlegs and 10 Semipalmated Plover. The tide was high and I prefer shorebird counts when the tide is lower. > I saw a single American Redstart on the approach road to the island and the only other warblers noted were about 20 Yellow-rumped Warblers. > Song Sparrows and White-throated Sparrows were wide-spread and a single Swamp Sparrow rounded out a meagre sparrow show for this time of year although we did not go into many trails because it was so wet. > Two American Pipits were seen on the walk around the kelp-covered west sand-spit. There were no finches at all, but 3 Pipeated Woodpeckers were noted- the local family group? > Waterfowl- Black Ducks-150, Mallard-1. American Wigeon-2, Green-winged Teal-15, Surf Scoter-30+, White-winged Scoter-3, Red-breasted merganser-1, Common Merganser-20, and Canada Geese-35 - a few hunters were around. > Salt-marsh Mosquitoes were out in full force!! > > cheers > ken
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