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Suzanne Borkowski and I ran my Nocturnal Owl Survey Route
(Tangier) on Friday night, 2 April. Weather conditions were forecast
to be excellent, with no precipitation and only 5 km winds. It was
absurdly warm and sunny in the afternoon, as we headed east on Hwy
107, but it was a bit cooler, and solidly overcast, before we reached
our destination. By the time we got as far as Ship Harbour we could
see heavy banks of fog over the coastal islands. We had hoped to do a
little daytime atlassing, but bird activity late in the afternoon was
low. A singing male Purple Finch (my first of the year) and a
female Pileated Woodpecker were nice sightings. I also saw what I
think was an Infant Moth (Archiearis infans), with its dark forewings
and orange hindwings. After supper in Sheet Harbour (excellent fish
and chips at the Fairwinds Motel) we backtracked to the Tangier to
Mooseland/Moose River Gold Mines road.
The country here is mostly coniferous or mixed forest with
many rocky lakes and tamarack bogs. Several local timber and pulp
operations are active, and there seem to be new clearcuts every time
we come. (Last summer I was stunned to see an extensive area totally
denuded by "biomass harvesting".) There are few year-round residents
but lots of fishing camps and cottages. The ice is long out of the
lakes, of course, so there was steady Friday night traffic along the
road at first, which made listening a challenge. We heard Woodcock
peenting and making their twittering display flights at several early
stops. I was frustrated in my vain attempts to see them. I enjoyed
hearing Spring Peepers and Wood Frogs for the first time this year;
the Wood Frogs were rather obtrusive at one stop, but the Peepers
have not yet built up to that deafening "wall of sound". The ditches
didn't have as much water as usual; in some years the sound of
running water can also be a hindrance.
The clouds lifted for a while during our survey and we
enjoyed views of the night sky, although we never saw the
moon. Unlike the two routes we do in the greater Halifax area, there
is absolutely no light pollution here. When we began it was 9
degrees and it actually rose to 10 by the time we finished shortly
before midnight. We never needed the thermos of hot chocolate I had
brought along ...
This is the eighth year that Suzanne and I have run this
route, and the results this year were unlike any other. Since the
road is paved for nearly the whole route, this is often the first
route we do, in early April. Normally we have Great Horneds and a
smaller number of Barreds, and usually Saw-whets as well. However
this year was amazing. Nearly every stop had at least one Saw-whet
Owl, and we also heard four Barred Owls and two Great Horned Owls,
for a total of sixteen owls! This is more owls than we have ever
had before on this route. The fog caught up with us late in the
evening before the last three stops, which are usually our best
locations for the big owls. We were anticipating finding even more
birds there, but none of the big owls were calling, perhaps because of the fog.
I am wondering if all those calling Saw-whets were actually
"on territory" (the habitat is certainly suitable) or if they were
still in migration. Would they be calling if they had not yet
established territories? We usually have a few on this route, but
never before so many or so evenly distributed.
Cheers,
Patricia L. Chalmers
Halifax
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<x-tab> </x-tab>Suzanne
Borkowski and I ran my Nocturnal Owl Survey Route (Tangier) on Friday
night, 2 April. Weather conditions were forecast to be excellent,
with no precipitation and only 5 km winds. It was absurdly warm and
sunny in the afternoon, as we headed east on Hwy 107, but it was a bit
cooler, and solidly overcast, before we reached our destination. By
the time we got as far as Ship Harbour we could see heavy banks of fog
over the coastal islands. We had hoped to do a little daytime atlassing,
but bird activity late in the afternoon was low. A singing male
Purple Finch (my first of the year) and a female Pileated
Woodpecker were nice sightings. I also saw what I think was
an Infant Moth (<i>Archiearis infans)</i>, with its dark forewings and
orange hindwings. After supper in Sheet Harbour (excellent fish and
chips at the Fairwinds Motel) we backtracked to the Tangier to
Mooseland/Moose River Gold Mines road. <br><br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>The
country here is mostly coniferous or mixed forest with many rocky lakes
and tamarack bogs. Several local timber and pulp operations are
active, and there seem to be new clearcuts every time we come. (Last
summer I was stunned to see an extensive area totally denuded by
"biomass harvesting".) There are few year-round residents
but lots of fishing camps and cottages. The ice is long out of the
lakes, of course, so there was steady Friday night traffic along the road
at first, which made listening a challenge. We heard Woodcock
peenting and making their twittering display flights at several early
stops. I was frustrated in my vain attempts to see
them. I enjoyed hearing Spring Peepers and Wood Frogs for the
first time this year; the Wood Frogs were rather obtrusive at one stop,
but the Peepers have not yet built up to that deafening "wall of
sound". The ditches didn't have as much water as usual; in
some years the sound of running water can also be a hindrance.<br><br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>The clouds
lifted for a while during our survey and we enjoyed views of the night
sky, although we never saw the moon. Unlike the two routes we do in
the greater Halifax area, there is absolutely no light pollution
here. When we began it was 9 degrees and it actually rose to 10 by
the time we finished shortly before midnight. We never needed the
thermos of hot chocolate I had brought along ...<br><br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>This is
the eighth year that Suzanne and I have run this route, and the results
this year were unlike any other. Since the road is paved for nearly
the whole route, this is often the first route we do, in early
April. Normally we have Great Horneds and a smaller number of
Barreds, and usually Saw-whets as well. However this year was
amaz