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Index of Subjects Last winter was a real good one for RBNU in New Brunswick, with 10s of thousands staying behind in the deep woods to feed on the abundant conifer seed crop. This year may be different, as that crop has now been exhausted. Also, Brian Dalzell is now the summer season editor for American Birds, and would appreciate any input from Nova Scotia birders you may be privy to. ==================================== ---- "Laviolette wrote: > Hi Everyone, > > Last month there were a few emails exchanged concerning Red-breasted Nuthatches and how abundant they were this year. While I was on Brier Island at the end of August and the beginning of September there were very large numbers of Red-breasted Nuthatches migrating south. In fact this was the largest migration I've witnessed on the island since 2005. > > The large movement certainly fits with the observations reported on NatureNS and with the winter finch and irruptive species predictions for Canada from Ron Pittaway of the Ontario Field Ornithologists. For Red-breasted Nuthatches his report reads in part: > > > "RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH: This nuthatch is a conifer seed specialist when it winters in the north, thus its movements are triggered by the same crops as the boreal winter finches. The southward movement, which began in the summer, signaled the generally poor cone crops on spruces, balsam fir and white pine in the mixed coniferous/deciduous forest region across Ontario and in Atlantic Canada, New York and New England States ... " > > It seems that when large numbers of Red-breasted Nuthatches are reported from Nova Scotia it's a result of generally poor cone crops in the Maritimes. I'd be interested in hearing any confirming or contrary reports of the cone crop status throughout the province. > > For those of you who feed birds, the predictions are calling for Common Redpolls to irrupt south this year so stock up on your nyger and black oil sunflower seeds. They're also big feeders on White Birch seeds so expect them to show up in areas where this tree is common. > > All the best, > > Lance > > ==================== > Lance Laviolette > Glen Robertson, Ont. > ==================== >
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