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This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_005C_01CDD13C.FFE36CF0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Ken McKenna Box 218 Stellarton NS B0K 1S0 902 752-7644 Hi all=20 Just spend 3 days touring and birding with a group in north-east = mainland NS. On Thurs. afternoon, we visited some areas of Pictou Co. = Nothing special noted, but at the New Glasgow sewage lagoon we had 25 = Iceland Gulls, 40 Bonaparte's Gulls and 70 Ring-billed Gulls. At = Melmerby Bch. PP, a juvenile Northern Harrier gave great close views as = it hunted the dunes. We then moved on to Sinclair's I. where there was a = nice feeding frenzy of gulls and mergansers in the Chance Harbour. I did = not do a count, but numbers appeared to be similar to the day before = when there were about 1200 Bonaparte's Gulls and 1200 Mergansers- mostly = Red-breasted, but there were also 60+ Common Mergansers. When we arrived = back to my house at dusk, a lone Pine Grosbeak was spotted in my = flowering crab tree.=20 On Friday, the Pine Grosbeak was seen again in the flowering crab at = dawn and a flock of Redpolls flew over as we packed to leave. The = weather started nice although it was very cold, but by the time we = reached Heatherton there was a full-blown snowstorm with very poor = visibility, but we plowed on regardless in belief that the weather = would improver as we left the influence of the Northumberland Strait. = Between Boylston and Guysborough Town the snow cleared and we birded = mostly the waterways along the route. Along the Milford-Haven R., we = spotted a Great Blue Heron and a Belted Kingfisher. Most common duck = there was Common Goldeneye with 80+ birds. On the Osprey golf course in = Guysborough, there were about 500 Canada Geese, but no Lapwings!.=20 At New Harbour, there was a nice collection of birds to observe with 3 = Black-headed Gulls and 2 over-head Turkey Vultures a highlight. Nothing = special was seen on a late afternoon hike at Tor Bay PP.=20 We spent most of Sat. in Canso. We made 3 attempts for the Northern = Lapwing, but failed to see it. It has likely moved on. Canso highlights = were Orange-crowned Warblers in 2 locations- one in ravine opposite Tom = Kavanaugh's house and a second under a deck and around hauled up wharves = on the waterfront camper site. Also at this locale was a very photogenic = Lapland Longspur between the wharves. Here we also saw remains of a = tubenose which we concluded was a Northern Fulmar- dead for awhile. At = Tom's feeder we saw the 2 Clay-coloured Sparrows, a Dickcissel, a = White-breasted Nuthatch, White-throated, Song and A. Tree Sparrows with = the House Sparrows. The harbour was somewhat quiet, but Double-crested = and Great Cormorants were present as well as a couple Bonaparte's and = Iceland Gulls. No sign of the tagged Great Black-backed Gull. Myrtle = Warblers were seen along the waterfront park and at O'Leary's. At the = Horne feeder area, we were treated to great close looks of a Brown = Creeper.=20 At O'Leary's off Sterling St. we saw a Palm Warbler and a couple very = co-operative Pine Grosbeaks. The owner told us he had not seen the = Common Gallinule since Nov 30. when the pond mostly froze over except = for a small open area tended to by a muskrat.=20 On the way through Hazel Hill, we looked through 15 Canada Geese for the = Lapwing, on the grounds of the school, but it was not there. We went for = a quick visit with Steve Bushell who had a Rose-breasted Grosbeak with = Evening Grosbeaks in the early morning but not seen since.=20 We moved on to Little Dover and a hike to the back cove at Black Duck = cove Park produced a pair of Northern Pintail and 3 Green-winged Teal.=20 After supper at Whitehead, a Northern Saw-whet Owl vocalized to end a = nice day of birding.=20 On Sunday, we worked our way back to Antigonish with visits to Tor Bay = PP, New Harbour and Goldboro taking in the scenic views such as Port = Felix waterfront and islands from the church hill. A stop just east of = new Harbour for a Gray Jay produced a fleeting view of a Black-backed = Woodpecker. Keen eyes spotted a Pied-billed Grebe from the wharf of the = interpretive centre in Goldboro.=20 At the Antigonish sewage lagoon a male Ring-necked Duck was present with = the Bufflehead and a half dozen Black-headed Gulls.=20 It was a nice few days of exploring a very beautiful, but under-visited = area of the province and I think those in the group were very pleased to = see an area they had not seen before even though the weather was quite = cold and windy. Thanks to Tom, Terri and family, Steve Bushell and the = O'Leary owner? for their help and hospitality.=20 cheers ken and gang ------=_NextPart_000_005C_01CDD13C.FFE36CF0 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 8.00.6001.19328"> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>Ken McKenna<BR>Box 218 Stellarton = NS<BR>B0K=20 1S0<BR>902 752-7644<BR></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>Hi all </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>Just spend 3 days touring and birding = with a group=20 in north-east mainland NS. On Thurs. afternoon, we visited some = areas of=20 Pictou Co. Nothing special noted, but at the New Glasgow sewage lagoon = we had=20 25<STRONG> Iceland Gulls</STRONG>, 40 <STRONG>Bonaparte's Gulls</STRONG> = and 70=20 <STRONG>Ring-billed Gulls</STRONG>. At Melmerby Bch. PP, a juvenile=20 <STRONG>Northern Harrier</STRONG> gave great close views as it hunted = the dunes.=20 We then moved on to Sinclair's I. where there was a nice feeding frenzy = of gulls=20 and mergansers in the Chance Harbour. I did not do a count, but numbers = appeared=20 to be similar to the day before when there were about <STRONG>1200 = Bonaparte's=20 Gulls</STRONG> and <STRONG>1200 </STRONG>Mergansers- mostly=20 <STRONG>Red-breasted</STRONG>, but there were also 60+ <STRONG>Common=20 Mergansers</STRONG>. When we arrived back to my house at dusk, a lone=20 <STRONG>Pine Grosbeak</STRONG> was spotted in my flowering crab tree.=20 </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>On Friday, the Pine Grosbeak was seen = again in=20 the flowering crab at dawn and a flock of = <STRONG>Redpolls</STRONG>=20 flew over as we packed to leave. The weather started nice although it = was very=20 cold, but by the time we reached Heatherton there was a full-blown = snowstorm=20 with very poor visibility, but we plowed on regardless in belief = that the=20 weather would improver as we left the influence of the Northumberland = Strait.=20 Between Boylston and Guysborough Town the snow cleared and we birded = mostly the=20 waterways along the route. Along the Milford-Haven R., we spotted a=20 <STRONG>Great Blue Heron</STRONG> and a <STRONG>Belted=20 Kingfisher</STRONG>. Most common duck there was <STRONG>Common=20 Goldeneye</STRONG> with 80+ birds. On the Osprey golf course in = Guysborough,=20 there were about 500 <STRONG>Canada Geese</STRONG>, but no Lapwings!.=20 </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>At New Harbour, there was a nice = collection of=20 birds to observe with 3 <STRONG>Black-headed Gulls</STRONG> and 2 = over-head=20 <STRONG>Turkey Vultures</STRONG> a highlight. Nothing special was seen = on a late=20 afternoon hike at Tor Bay PP. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>We spent most of Sat. in Canso. We made = 3 attempts=20 for the Northern Lapwing, but failed to see it. It has likely moved on. = Canso=20 highlights were <STRONG>Orange-crowned Warblers</STRONG> in 2 locations- = one in ravine opposite Tom Kavanaugh's house and a second under a = deck and=20 around hauled up wharves on the waterfront camper site. Also at this = locale was=20 a very photogenic <STRONG>Lapland Longspur</STRONG> between the wharves. = Here we=20 also saw remains of a tubenose which we concluded was a Northern = Fulmar-=20 dead for awhile. At Tom's feeder we saw the 2 = <STRONG>Clay-coloured=20 Sparrows</STRONG>, a <STRONG>Dickcissel</STRONG>, a = <STRONG>White-breasted=20 Nuthatch</STRONG>, <STRONG>White-throated, Song and A. Tree = Sparrows</STRONG>=20 with the <STRONG>House Sparrows</STRONG>. The harbour was somewhat = quiet, but=20 <STRONG>Double-crested and Great Cormorants</STRONG> were present as = well as a=20 couple <STRONG>Bonaparte's and Iceland Gulls</STRONG>. No sign of the = tagged=20 Great Black-backed Gull. <STRONG>Myrtle Warblers</STRONG> were seen = along the=20 waterfront park and at O'Leary's. At the Horne feeder area, we were = treated to=20 great close looks of a <STRONG>Brown Creeper</STRONG>. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>At O'Leary's off Sterling St. we saw a = <STRONG>Palm=20 Warbler</STRONG> and a couple very co-operative <STRONG>Pine = Grosbeaks</STRONG>.=20 The owner told us he had<STRONG> not</STRONG> seen the Common Gallinule = since=20 Nov 30. when the pond mostly froze over except for a small open area = tended to=20 by a muskrat. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>On the way through Hazel Hill, we = looked through 15=20 Canada Geese for the Lapwing, on the grounds of the school, but it was = not=20 there. We went for a quick visit with Steve Bushell who had a = Rose-breasted=20 Grosbeak with Evening Grosbeaks in the early morning but not seen since. = </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>We moved on to Little Dover and a hike = to the back=20 cove at Black Duck cove Park produced a pair of <STRONG>Northern=20 Pintail</STRONG> and 3<STRONG> Green-winged Teal. </STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>After supper at Whitehead, a<STRONG> = Northern=20 Saw-whet Owl</STRONG> vocalized to end a nice day of birding. = </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>On Sunday, we worked our way back to = Antigonish=20 with visits to Tor Bay PP, New Harbour and Goldboro taking in the scenic = views=20 such as Port Felix waterfront and islands from the church = hill. A=20 stop just east of new Harbour for a <STRONG>Gray Jay</STRONG> produced a = fleeting view of a <STRONG>Black-backed Woodpecker</STRONG>. Keen eyes = spotted a=20 <STRONG>Pied-billed Grebe</STRONG> from the wharf of the interpretive = centre in=20 Goldboro. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>At the Antigonish sewage lagoon a male=20 <STRONG>Ring-necked Duck</STRONG> was present with the = <STRONG>Bufflehead=20 </STRONG>and a half dozen <STRONG>Black-headed Gulls</STRONG>.=20 </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>It was a nice few days of exploring a = very=20 beautiful, but under-visited area of the province and I think those in = the group=20 were very pleased to see an area they had not seen before even though = the=20 weather was quite cold and windy. Thanks to Tom, Terri and family, Steve = Bushell=20 and the O'Leary owner? for their help and hospitality. = </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>ken and gang</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial> </DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML> ------=_NextPart_000_005C_01CDD13C.FFE36CF0--
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