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--Boundary_(ID_HMPw16RUIjkUje0dbRXuiQ) Content-type: text/plain; CHARSET=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT AUG. 19, 2011 - My ankle sting from yesterday (yellowjacket wasp?) continues to hurt and itch, despite several applications of calamine lotion last night. It's not debilitating nor very swollen. BUT later, 24 hours after the sting or bite, my whole right foot is very swollen compared to my svelte left foot! Pat is wondering if I should be taking something for it? I think I'm fine, not debilitated at all, except that it's hard to get my right beach-walking rubber- bottom shoe onto that foot. I forgot something relevant to roosting shorebirds: about two days ago Raymond Parker told me he had been kayaking or canoeing in the St. Croix River at Windsor during high tide recently; and about 1 km. upstream from Windsor, he encountered large flocks of small shorebirds or peeps (uncounted). I went to Evangeline Beach, the canteen area & parking lot etc., to look for flocks of peeps 1.5 hours before high tide -- today's daytime high tide was 5:15 p.m. with an amplitude of 11.0 metres (mediocre). According to two visitors, I had just missed a good "show" of lots of the flying and roosting peeps, but then they flew away toward the east and out of sight. At the time, there was still beach available for roosting, but scattered humans in the water of the incoming tide probably made it difficult for the shorebirds to land and rest there. Thus I drove east to Jean Merks' house on the shore of the eastern part of Evangeline Beach, and, at one hour before high tide, there on the very wide beach just west of her house was a large and very quiet roost or "gray carpet" of an estimated 20,000 peeps. There were no human fishers nor recreators, so at least today it was a great place for them to stay and rest. Jean has lots of nice flowers and active feeders, and while I was at the house I was buzzed loudly by a hummingbird, a male, that was clearly defending his area of a hanging fuchsia plant full of blossoms. It seems very late now for such territorial behaviour on the part of any male. Also there were lots of goldfinches. I should add here that Jean Merks' property is private, but I have access by knowing here for quite a few years. Then I checked out Penny Beach south of Avonport Beach at 0.5 hr. before high tide, and I saw scattered human fishers and recreators along the narrow beach there and, out over the water, a flying flock of perhaps 2000 peeps heading east toward Horton Bluff. I thought those flying peeps might have been going to roost on Blue Beach, but today there was no big roost there, at high tide. There were 8-10 fishers for striped bass there, and a small group of 23 semipalmated plovers and 13 semipalmated sandpipers landed on the shore. And I saw a couple of other small flying flocks of peeps. The fishers had been catching only occasional non-keeper bass up to 14 inches (35 cm.) long. Lastly, as usual during the high-tide period, there were about 20 double-crested cormorants that crosses the Gaspereau River north of the Highway 101 bridge over the same river. And those cormorants can be fairly closely viewed and photographed at the end of a 2-km. road that goes east from the area of the Hortonville Just Us! Coffee Roastery. For anyone who wishes to find my usual place of public access to East Evangeline Beach: At Grand Pre drive north on the paved road across the dykelands to the T-junction, turn right and look for Pheasant Road. Turn left and drive north to Sandpiper Lane, and then go right or east for about 200 metres, where you will see a break in the trees among the cottages. Park there, scramble onto the beach carefully, then either walk to the east past Jean Merks' home and to the end of the trees (best about 1 to 1.5 hours after high tide), or, before high tide, walk west to get to the motel and canteen and viewing platform area -- often at about 2 hrs. before high tide, there are large numbers of flying and roosting shorebirds. If approached very slowly, you can get very close to the birds and they will not even notice you if you pick a nice rock for just sitting. This evening Pat & I had a nice supper and spirited conversation with Janet & John Foster at Paddy's Pub in Wolfville, and then Pat & I went to the Whittle Theatre for a play, "The Vigil". ------------------------- AUG. 20, 2011 - My stung right ankle and foot got very stiff along with its swollen, itchy, and achy condition overnight, but by this morning I could walk again with it all right. The calamine lotion did nothing to relieve any of those symptoms, and I continue to wonder about what kind of critter stung me and why. This might be the end of my long reports on the shorebirds for now, since the Fosters drove to Moncton today and then will fly back to their farm between Toronto and Ottawa. Cheers from Jim in Wolfville. --Boundary_(ID_HMPw16RUIjkUje0dbRXuiQ) Content-type: text/html; CHARSET=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable <html><body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; = -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font = face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica"><b>AUG. = 19, 2011 - My ankle sting</b> from yesterday (yellowjacket wasp?) = continues to hurt and itch, despite several applications of calamine = lotion last night. It's not debilitating nor very swollen. = <b>BUT later, 24 hours after </b>the sting or bite, my whole <b>right = foot is very swollen</b> compared to my svelte left foot! Pat is = wondering if I should be taking something for it? I think I'm = fine, not debilitated at all, except that it's hard to get my right = beach-walking rubber-bottom shoe onto that foot.</font></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; = min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font = face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica">I forgot = something relevant to <b>roosting shorebirds: </b>about two days ago<b> = Raymond Parker</b> told me he had been kayaking or canoeing in the = <b>St. Croix River </b>at Windsor during high tide recently; and = <b>about 1 km. upstream from Windsor,</b> he encountered large flocks of = small shorebirds or peeps (uncounted).</font></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; = min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font = face=3D"Helvetica