next message in archive
next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects
Jim's note reminds me of a situation I encountered when I worked at the Nova Scotia Museum in the early 1990s. Apparently someone on the natural history staff received a phone call from a used book store in downtown Halifax one afternoon (I believe it was Schooner Books). They had a box of old bird notebooks they had come across in one of their estate acquisitions, and they wondered if they were of any value? Long story short, the Museum ended up buying them, even though they could ill afford to purchase them at the time. I remember going through the box with other members of the staff, fascinated at the century-old bird records. They belonged to a gentleman from Yarmouth, NS (I believe his name was E. Chesley Allen), and had been made in the late 1890s and early 1900s. The box had been found in his barn sometime after his passing, and had almost been thrown out, but by some quirk of fate they had been recognized for what they were and rescued. They are no doubt now available from the archives of the NS Museum to anyone who is interested in the birdlife of Yarmouth county more than a century ago. ============================ ---- Jim Wilson <jgw@NBNET.NB.CA> wrote: > Hi Stu, > > Very interesting looking back at your early notes - and it shows the value > of keeping those old notebooks AND making subsequent corrections, for the > record. I have almost-daily notes of interesting observations going back > almost 10 years prior to 1971 and reading through them brings back many > pleasant and vivid memories. > > The importance of these seemingly casual notes is really incalculable and > every naturalist should seriously consider what they will do with their > field notes some day in the future. To put it into perspective, just think > how interesting it would be to read the daily journals of all the early New > Brunswick people of 100 years ago whose records have disappeared. What were > they seeing, how many, and when? > > Dr. Don McAlpine at the NB Museum has established a repository for just such > records at the Museum (the W.A. Squires Library), named in honor of W. > Austin Squires, an past Curator of the Natural Science Dept. at the Museum > and author of "Birds of New Brunswick". > > I'm a big supporter of people making plans to archive their personal nature > journals there when "the day" comes, so future generations can have access > to them for various purposes. That's certainly my plan. > > I realize electronic mediums such as the NatureNB listserv have a wealth of > daily records as well and hopefully these can also end up in the Squires > Library, but many of us have material that goes way back before the > Internet. > > Something for all of us naturalists to think about and to discuss with > members of our family. It's so easy for things like that to be considered > "worthless" and be thrown out. And that goes for NatureNB records as well. > > Best regards, > > Jim > > -----Original Message----- > From: NatureNB [mailto:NATURENB@LISTSERV.UNB.CA] On Behalf Of Stuart Tingley > Sent: Tuesday, April 06, 2010 11:26 AM > To: NATURENB@LISTSERV.UNB.CA > Subject: Re: Great Cormorant briefly on Silver Lake, Sackville > > Interesting observation, Christopher. Great Cormorants are indeed quite rare > on fresh water although they are occasionally seen well inland such as on > the Saint John River near Fredericton or well up the St. Lawrence River and > even on the Great Lakes. These may be individuals who are tagging along with > flocks of Double-crested Cormorants which do breed inland on freshwater. > However the Silver Lake bird was probably a bird migrating overland from the > Bay of Fundy to Northumberland Strait en route to their breeding colonies > scattered throughout the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Numbers of Great Cormorants > do regularly use this overland route in March and April and there is a long > history of flocks of Great Cormorants passing over the Isthmus of Chignecto > heading northeastward in spring. In the past few weeks I've seen several > flocks of Great Cormorants numbering from 5 to 30 passing northeastward over > coastal Albert County and then heading up the Memramcook and Petitcodiac > River Valleys for Shediac Bay and also past Minudie in Nova Scotia and then > heading over the Tantramar Marshes for Baie Verte. > > I have to chuckle when I think of my first observation of Great Cormorants > on the Tantramar Marshes. It was on a warm spring day in late March or early > April back in 1971 (yes.....almost 40 years ago!!!! YIKES) as I walked along > the dykes below Fort Beausejour at Aulac. I looked up to see a flock of > large dark birds passing overhead heading northeast toward the Radio-Canada > towers. I was sure they had to be geese and since I could see a lot of white > on their faces I concluded, after consulting the goose plates in my Peterson > Field Guide to Birds, that they must be Blue Geese and entered them as such > in my notebook. It was only later at home that I realized my mistake when I > came across an illustration of Great Cormorants in breeding plumage showing > not only the white on the face but also the white flank patches that I'd > noted in the field. My notebook that day also reports a flock of chickadees > and warblers at Aulac, with the 'warblers' later scratched out and replaced > with 'Golden-crowned Kinglets'. > > Good Birding, > > Stu Tingley > Shediac, NB > > On Mon, Apr 5, 2010 at 10:56 AM, Christopher Clunas > <cclunas@eastlink.ca>wrote: > > > This morning I watched a Great Cormorant, adult breeding plumage, on > Silver > > Lake, Sackville for about 10 minutes. Seems like a rather unusual bird to > > see here. Must just be on its way somewhere else, of course. Sibley says > > they are "rarely seen on fresh water". > > > > I was able to take some photos but it was too far out on the lake, so they > > are very poor quality. > > > > Christopher Clunas > > Sackville NB > > > > NatureNB guidelines http://www3.nbnet.nb.ca/maryspt/nnbe.html > > Foire aux questions de NatureNB http://www3.nbnet.nb.ca/maryspt/nnbf.html > > > > NatureNB guidelines http://www3.nbnet.nb.ca/maryspt/nnbe.html > Foire aux questions de NatureNB http://www3.nbnet.nb.ca/maryspt/nnbf.html > > NatureNB guidelines http://www3.nbnet.nb.ca/maryspt/nnbe.html > Foire aux questions de NatureNB http://www3.nbnet.nb.ca/maryspt/nnbf.html
next message in archive
next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects