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There were three <b>Ipswich Sparrows </b>at This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --Boundary_(ID_N5uoK2y427L8rKzQB+JhxQ) Content-type: text/plain; CHARSET=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT A friend mentioned that yesterday he saw a tight flock of Surf Scoters in St Margarets Bay. He estimated the number as 200. Don Don MacNeill donmacneill@eastlink.ca ----- Original Message ----- From: Blake Maybank To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca Sent: Sunday, May 01, 2011 2:48 PM Subject: [NatureNS] Eastern Shore birding, 30 April 30 April 2011 Ian McLaren and I explored the coastline between Hartlen Point and Martinque Beach on Saturday, 30 April. There were no rarities to report, but there were sightings of interest, most of which pertained to waterfowl. There was an evident movement of Common Eider. Flocks large and small were feeding at numerous rocky locations, with a roughly equal mix of females and striking males. They all appeared to be of the dresseri subspecies, which breeds in Nova Scotia, and as far north as the coast of Labrador. Many of these birds could have been fuelling up to head further north, rather than simply breeding locally. We encountered the eiders in numbers at the following locations: - off Shore Road in Eastern Passage; - off Hartlen Point; - in Cow Bay; - in Cole Harbour (both the inner harbour, and the outer harbour) - at Three Fathom Harbour (a flock feeding "puddle duck" style close to Causeway Road, and numerous birds well inside Three Fathom Harbour Pond (a.k.a. Dottie's Pond), right up to Three Fathom Harbour Road); - and off Lawrencetown Head. We had scoters in two locations, 24 Black Scoter off Shore Road in Eastern Passage, and 26 Surf Scoter in Petpeswick Inlet. A lone Long-tailed Duck was with eider in outer Cole Harbour, viewable from the Cow Bay church. There were 60 Greater Scaup in inner Cow Bay Lake, north of Moses Island, viewable frm Cow Bay Road. In West Lawrencetown Marsh (north of the Atlantic View Trail) there were 7 Common Mergansers and a single American Coot. At Conrad's Beach there were three Bufflehead close to the bridge to the parking area (the bridge is still blocked to traffic). With respect to birds other than waterfowl we had: Greater Yellowlegs: 2 at McCormack's Beach, 1 at Hartlen Point, 2 at Rainbow Haven PP, 1 at Three Fathom Harbour Pond, and 2 off Shore Road in West Chezzetcook. There were Willets at several locations, but they were scarce, suggesting that many have not yet returned. There was a 1st winter Iceland Gull at Silver Sands Beach Park, Cow Bay Lake. There were 10 Barn Swallows and 2 Tree Swallows around the private houses at Rainbow Haven PP. There were three Ipswich Sparrows at Hartlen Point, along the beach. Red-winged Blackbirds were singing in a number of locations. - the cattails behind Hartlen Point Beach - off Cow Bay Road, overlooking Cow Bay Lake - West Lawrencetown Marsh - the marsh at the southwest corner of Porter's Lake (at the junction of Route 207 and Crowell Road, near Rocky Run - the marsh off Causeway Road at Three Fathom Harbour - a couple of other spots I forgot to record It wasn't many years ago that there were but a couple of spots along the Eastern Shore were you might expect this species (such as the Porter's Lake marsh), but a local range expansion is evident (and welcome). In brief, a wonderful day afield. Cheers, Blake ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blake Maybank maybank@ns.sympatico.ca http://www.flickr.com/photos/blakemaybank/ 902-852-2077 Editor, "Nova Scotia Birds" http://nsbs.chebucto.org Organiser, Maritimes Nature Travel Club http://tinyurl.com/naturetravel author, "Birding Sites of Nova Scotia" http://tinyurl.com/birdingns Downloadable Nova Scotia Maps for inside front and back covers: http://tinyurl.com/mr627d White's Lake, Nova Scotia, Canada --Boundary_(ID_N5uoK2y427L8rKzQB+JhxQ) Content-type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1" = http-equiv=3DContent-Type> <META name=3DGENERATOR content=3D"MSHTML 8.00.6001.19046"> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>A friend mentioned that yesterday he = saw a tight=20 flock of Surf Scoters in St Margarets Bay. He estimated the number = as=20 200.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>Don</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Don MacNeill<BR><A=20 href=3D"mailto:donmacneill@eastlink.ca">donmacneill@eastlink.ca</A></DIV>= <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message -----=20 <DIV style=3D"BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A=20 title=3Dmaybank@ns.sympatico.ca = href=3D"mailto:maybank@ns.sympatico.ca">Blake=20 Maybank</A> </DIV> <DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=3Dnaturens@chebucto.ns.ca=20 href=3D"mailto:naturens@chebucto.ns.ca">naturens@chebucto.ns.ca</A> = </DIV> <DIV><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, May 01, 2011 2:48 PM</DIV> <DIV><B>Subject:</B> [NatureNS] Eastern Shore birding, 30 = April</DIV></DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman, Times">30 April = 2011<BR><BR>Ian=20 McLaren and I explored the coastline between Hartlen Point and Martinque = Beach=20 on Saturday, 30 April. There were no rarities to report, but there = were=20 sightings of interest, most of which pertained to = waterfowl.<BR><BR>There was an=20 evident movement of <B>Common Eider</B>. Flocks large and small = were=20 feeding at numerous rocky locations, with a roughly equal mix of females = and=20 striking males. They all appeared to be of the <I>dresseri = </I>subspecies,=20 which breeds in Nova Scotia, and as far north as the coast of = Labrador. =20 Many of these birds could have been fuelling up to head further north, = rather=20 than simply breeding locally.<BR><BR>We encountered the eiders in = numbers at the=20 following=20 locations:<BR><BR>-<X-TAB> </X-T= AB>off=20 Shore Road in Eastern Passage;=20 <BR>-<X-TAB> </X-TAB>off = Hartlen Point;=20 <BR>-<X-TAB> </X-TAB>in Cow = Bay;=20 <BR>-<X-TAB> &n