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--=====================_8271171==.ALT Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Hurricane Earl was certainly felt in my neighbourhood of the Halifax peninsula. The power was out for more than 24 hours. Then my phone line went down Sunday morning, after a fallen elm bough on the lines caught fire when the power came back on. I waited another 24 hours, until late this morning, for my phone lines to be replaced. Once I was connected again, I had a chance to read all the recent reports. So it wasn't till about 4 p.m. that I was able to head over to McCormack's Beach in Eastern Passage. I saw the two juvenile Black Skimmers before I even got out of my car - they were on the beach not far from the parking lot. I studied them for awhile from the boardwalk, when I heard someone suddenly shout my name, and there was Ulli Hoeger pointing to the east - a Magnificent Frigatebird over the housetops! Ulli told me that he and Mike King had seen it earlier as it flew into the harbour. There were few other birds on the beach, but a fair number of people, and the skimmers appeared too weak or lethargic to move away. A photographer whom I didn't recognize kept getting too close to them with his little camera. I was about to go up and speak to him when they finally rallied and flew off. Ulli was telling me about his other sightings when Mike King joined us and relayed news of yet more birds. We watched as the skimmers returned, flying about and occasionally lowering their bills to skim the water, We couldn't see that they were catching anything. At one point they narrowly avoided flying into a couple of little girls playing in the shallows as the tide was coming in. Anxious to visit other places before the day's end, I was returning to my car when Mike shouted over to me, and we saw the frigatebird come flying into the harbour again. This time I had a clear view of its ruby red gular pouch. Spectacular! I followed it in my binoculars as it flew along the shore of Lawlor's Island. Did anyone else notice that it was being pursued by a hummingbird? At Cow Bay I found a chickadee flock in the woods, with a Palm, a Yellow-rumped and a Prairie Warbler. My last stop was at West Lawrencetown Marsh, where a Royal Tern flew across the trail in front of me, twice. Thanks to everyone for their reports, and especially to Ulli Hoeger and Mike King for their help today. Patricia L. Chalmers Halifax P.S. I left a phone message for Jean Hartley about the sightings, and later she also headed out along the eastern side of Halifax Harbour. At Hartlen Point, about 6 p.m. (?) she saw the Frigatebird fly out the mouth of the harbour and turn east towards Cow Bay. --=====================_8271171==.ALT Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii" <html> <body> Hurricane Earl was certainly felt in my neighbourhood of the Halifax peninsula. The power was out for more than 24 hours. Then my phone line went down Sunday morning, after a fallen elm bough on the lines caught fire when the power came back on. I waited another 24 hours, until late this morning, for my phone lines to be replaced. Once I was connected again, I had a chance to read all the recent reports. So it wasn't till about 4 p.m. that I was able to head over to McCormack's Beach in Eastern Passage. <br><br> I saw the two juvenile <b>Black Skimmers</b> before I even got out of my car - they were on the beach not far from the parking lot. I studied them for awhile from the boardwalk, when I heard someone suddenly shout my name, and there was Ulli Hoeger pointing to the east - a <b>Magnificent Frigatebird</b> over the housetops! Ulli told me that he and Mike King had seen it earlier as it flew into the harbour.<br><br> There were few other birds on the beach, but a fair number of people, and the skimmers appeared too weak or lethargic to move away. A photographer whom I didn't recognize kept getting too close to them with his little camera. I was about to go up and speak to him when they finally rallied and flew off. <br><br> Ulli was telling me about his other sightings when Mike King joined us and relayed news of yet more birds. We watched as the skimmers returned, flying about and occasionally lowering their bills to skim the water, We couldn't see that they were catching anything. At one point they narrowly avoided flying into a couple of little girls playing in the shallows as the tide was coming in.<br><br> Anxious to visit other places before the day's end, I was returning to my car when Mike shouted over to me, and we saw the frigatebird come flying into the harbour again. This time I had a clear view of its ruby red gular pouch. Spectacular! I followed it in my binoculars as it flew along the shore of Lawlor's Island. Did anyone else notice that it was being pursued by a hummingbird?<br><br> At Cow Bay I found a chickadee flock in the woods, with a Palm, a Yellow-rumped and a <b>Prairie Warbler</b>. <br><br> My last stop was at West Lawrencetown Marsh, where a <b>Royal Tern</b> flew across the trail in front of me, twice. <br><br> <br> Thanks to everyone for their reports, and especially to Ulli Hoeger and Mike King for their help today.<br><br> Patricia L. Chalmers<br> Halifax<br><br> P.S. I left a phone message for Jean Hartley about the sightings, and later she also headed out along the eastern side of Halifax Harbour. At Hartlen Point, about 6 p.m. (?) she saw the Frigatebird fly out the mouth of the harbour and turn east towards Cow Bay. </body> </html> --=====================_8271171==.ALT--
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