[NatureNS] Western Meadowlark

From: "John Kearney" <john.kearney@ns.sympatico.ca>
To: <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:26:38 -0400
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This morning I saw a bird flying along the Northumberland coast with the
distinctive flight of a meadowlark. Fortunately, it stopped for about 5
minutes at the top of a spruce tree. It was indeed a meadowlark, a bright
male in breeding plumage. I was about 150 meters away and that was as close
as I could get before it flew. Before checking my field guide to refresh my
memory on the field marks of the two meadowlarks, I noted: strongly marked
black-v on breast, very yellow breast extending on to face, and pale back.
After checking my field guides, it seemed the bird was a fit for Western
Meadowlark rather than Eastern. I could see no white on the lower part of
the face (malar region), and the yellow extending on the face would seem to
confirm a western. I'm reasonably sure that this was a Western Meadowlark,
my only hesitation being the distance between me and the bird. I later
explored the area around that spruce tree but could not find the bird. 

While I was watching the meadowlark, 15 Cedar Waxwings flew over, very
unusual here for this time of year. 

This was at Doctor's Brook, in Antigonish County.


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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=3DEN-CA link=3Dblue =
vlink=3Dpurple><div class=3DWordSection1><p class=3DMsoNormal>This =
morning I saw a bird flying along the Northumberland coast with the =
distinctive flight of a meadowlark. Fortunately, it stopped for about 5 =
minutes at the top of a spruce tree. It was indeed a meadowlark, a =
bright male in breeding plumage. I was about 150 meters away and that =
was as close as I could get before it flew. Before checking my field =
guide to refresh my memory on the field marks of the two meadowlarks, I =
noted: strongly marked black-v on breast, very yellow breast extending =
on to face, and pale back. After checking my field guides, it seemed the =
bird was a fit for Western Meadowlark rather than Eastern. I could see =
no white on the lower part of the face (malar region), and the yellow =
extending on the face would seem to confirm a western. I&#8217;m =
reasonably sure that this was a Western Meadowlark, my only hesitation =
being the distance between me and the bird. I later explored the area =
around that spruce tree but could not find the bird. <o:p></o:p></p><p =
class=3DMsoNormal>While I was watching the meadowlark, 15 Cedar Waxwings =
flew over, very unusual here for this time of year.<span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans =
MS";mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'> <span =
lang=3DEN-US><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span =
lang=3DEN-US style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans =
MS";mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'>This was at Doctor&#8217;s Brook, in =
Antigonish County.</span><o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>
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