next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects
This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_01E3_01CD6DD8.E0580200 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Last Wednesday, Wendy and I drove to the eastern Annapolis Valley for = birds, flowers, butterflies and fresh Valley produce. =20 On the way (sort of), we stopped at Smiley's Park to see if we could = find the Canada Lily in bloom. No luck, although we did find a few = small, non-blooming plants. Did anyone see the Canada Lily there this = year? We are also helping to do a biota inventory at the Nature Trust = Meander River property across the road and spent about an hour there. = Very few asters or goldenrods in bloom yet but did find a small patch of = Dwarf Enchanter's Nightshade and a larger patch of Large-leaved Aster, = which, apparently, seldom produces blossoms....? Next stop, the Tourist Info Centre in Windsor where we were mis-informed = about the timing of high tide at Grand Pre! We then proceeded to = Kentville for a walk along the Kentville Ravine Trail for interesting = plants and perhaps Mustard White butterflies, which Peter Payzant = mentioned could be seen there. We did find a few butterflies, including = Mustard White, which was a "Lifer" for me! Also nice to see = Joe-Pye-Weed in bloom since there isn't much to be seen around Halifax. = As we approached the trailhead, we passed three lovely American Chestnut = trees and in one of them was a black form Gray Squirrel with an second = normal colour one close by. I guess that Jim Wolford knows about these = 2 introduced creatures. On our way towards Wolfville we stopped to pick raspberries (Awesome!) = and to look for dragonflies around Hennigers Pond. Lots of darners on = the big pond but too far away to be IDed. After a quick supper at the Wolfville Market ($10 special), we headed to = the Guzzle at the eastern end of Grand Pre. I believe that we passed = Rick Whitman on the way which was not a good sign. Why would he be = leaving an hour before high tide....? Sure enough we arrived at full = high tide, not 1.5 hours before high tide as we had planned. In any = case, we did see a large number of peeps (Rick had estimated 10,000 = birds the previous day and we concur). They were essentially all = Semipalmated Sandpipers, although I was able to pick out one Least, one = White-rumped and one Sanderling, when they came in to roost on the small = bit of beach remaining to the left of where the fisherfolk were located. = I did obtain a nice video of the flock swirling around, landing and = immediately taking off again. It's quite a sight! No raptors were = seen here but one RT Hawk was seen on a telephone pole on Grand Pre = Road. No Black Swallowtails were seen either. Apart from the = shorebirds, another highlight of our visit here was the 15-20 Bank = Swallows which greeted us on our arrival.. I assume that they must have = their burrows in the mud bank close by...? The final event on our Valley visit was the Chimney Swift roost at the = Robie Tufts Nature Centre. We joined Jim Wolford and a couple of other = counters there. The first swifts appeared about 8:55 PM and the first = entry was shortly thereafter. The show was over within about 10-15 = minutes and our total count was 33 birds. Not big numbers but a = terrific end to another exciting day in the Valley! Cheers, Bob McDonald ------=_NextPart_000_01E3_01CD6DD8.E0580200 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 8.00.6001.19258"> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>Last Wednesday, Wendy and I drove to = the eastern=20 Annapolis Valley for birds, flowers, butterflies and fresh Valley = produce. =20 </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>On the way (sort of), we stopped at=20 Smiley's Park to see if we could find the Canada Lily in = bloom. No=20 luck, although we did find a few small, non-blooming plants. Did = anyone=20 see the Canada Lily there this year? We are also helping to do a = biota=20 inventory at the Nature Trust Meander River property across the road and = spent=20 about an hour there. Very few asters or goldenrods in bloom yet = but did=20 find a small patch of Dwarf Enchanter's Nightshade and a larger patch of = Large-leaved Aster, which, apparently, seldom produces=20 blossoms....?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>Next stop, the Tourist Info Centre in = Windsor where=20 we were mis-informed about the timing of high tide at Grand Pre! = We then=20 proceeded to Kentville for a walk along the Kentville Ravine Trail for=20 interesting plants and perhaps Mustard White butterflies, which Peter = Payzant=20 mentioned could be seen there. We did find a few butterflies, = including=20 Mustard White, which was a "Lifer" for me! Also nice to see = Joe-Pye-Weed=20 in bloom since there isn't much to be seen around Halifax. As we=20 approached the trailhead, we passed three lovely American Chestnut trees = and in=20 one of them was a black form Gray Squirrel with an second normal colour = one=20 close by. I guess that Jim Wolford knows about these 2 introduced=20 creatures.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>On our way towards Wolfville we stopped = to pick=20 raspberries (Awesome!) and to look for dragonflies around Hennigers = Pond. =20 Lots of darners on the big pond but too far away to be = IDed.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>After a quick supper at the Wolfville = Market ($10=20 special), we headed to the Guzzle at the eastern end of Grand Pre. = I=20 believe that we passed Rick Whitman on the way which was not a good = sign. =20 Why would he be leaving an hour before high tide....? Sure enough = we=20 arrived at full high tide, not 1.5 hours before high tide as we had=20 planned. In any case, we did see a large number of peeps (Rick had = estimated 10,000 birds the previous day and we concur). They were=20 essentially all Semipalmated Sandpipers, although I was able to pick=20 out one Least, one White-rumped and one Sanderling, when they = came in=20 to roost on the small bit of beach remaining to the left of where the = fisherfolk=20 were located. I did obtain a nice video of the flock swirling = around,=20 landing and immediately taking off again. It's quite a = sight! =20 No raptors were seen here but one RT Hawk was seen on a telephone pole = on Grand=20 Pre Road. No Black Swallowtails were seen either. Apart from = the=20 shorebirds, another highlight of our visit here was the 15-20 Bank = Swallows=20 which greeted us on our arrival.. I assume that they must have their = burrows in=20 the mud bank close by...?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>The final event on our Valley = visit was=20 the Chimney Swift roost at the Robie Tufts Nature Centre. We = joined Jim=20 Wolford and a couple of other counters there. The first swifts = appeared=20 about 8:55 PM and the first entry was shortly thereafter. The show = was=20 over within about 10-15 minutes and our total count was 33 birds. = Not big=20 numbers but a terrific end to another exciting day in the = Valley!</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>Cheers,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>Bob McDonald</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML> ------=_NextPart_000_01E3_01CD6DD8.E0580200--
next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects