next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects
---1269787621-940506810-1404769979=:53521
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
So enjoyed reading this!!=0ACheers!=0AGayle MacLean=0ADartmouth =0A=0A=0AOn=
Monday, July 7, 2014 4:58:30 PM, Don MacNeill <donmacneill@bellaliant.net>=
wrote:=0A =0A=0A=0AWonderful story Clarence.=0A=0A =0ADon MacNeill donmac=
neill@bellaliant.net=0AOn 07/07/2014 6:30 AM, Clarence Stevens wrote:=0A =
=0AHi All, Its 3:30 am Monday morning and Dad and I have just returned from=
birding parts of Digby & Yarmouth Counties. I'm too wired to sleep so I fi=
gure I might as well do a posting. In 5 hours of birding today we found 30=
Black Skimmers, 5 Gull-billed Terns, 4 Royal Terns, 2 Sandwich Terns, 1 Fo=
rester's Tern and like Ronny & Alix - who were birding many of the same are=
as as we were - to many Laughing Gulls to count. All the way to Yarmouth t=
here were Laughing Gulls on the shorelines. Laughing Gulls out over the wav=
es. Laughing Gulls on the beaches following people around begging for potat=
o chips. We even had two flocks of Laughing Gulls roosting in a field. For=
us, one of the best locations was Mavilette Beach. There in one flock of v=
ery obliging birds there were 22 Black Skimmers, 3 Gull-billed Terns, and 1=
Foresters Tern. All were posing nicely on a river sandbar across from one=
the entrances to Mavilette Beach and behind them in salt-marsh a 4th
Gull-billed Tern was flying around. At Salmon River we missed their Black=
Skimmer but did see their Gull-billed Tern along with 3 more Laughing Gull=
s. At Pembroke Beach we got our first Royal Tern and of course more Laughi=
ng Gulls. Between Overton and Yarmouth Bar we added 7 Black Skimmers and 2=
Sandwich Terns. The first Sandwich Tern was at scope distance, sitting on=
some wooden posts in Yarmouth Harbour. However the second was a very close=
, stunning plumaged bird on the shoreline just before Yarmouth Bar. Just =
past the bar and the long cement wall, at the big bend in the road there is=
a popular pull-over for scanning the ocean. There we watched 3 more Royal =
Terns repeatedly diving into the surf like miniature Gannets. >From Yarmou=
th Light we birded our way back to Mavilette Beach. There were no new hurri=
cane additions but we did pick up an American Bittern in the marsh behind M=
avilette Beach. Attention:For those just interested in bird species
we sighted feel free to stop reading now and move on to another juicy Hurr=
icane Posting. For the rest, read on. With a pocketful of hurricane delig=
hts and multiple lifers for two counties we headed home, another adventure =
completed. Or so we thought. Many times just after dark we have traveled =
the highway from Yarmouth to Digby. After ten this road can be pretty quiet=
, so we were surprised at all the cars that were passing us, heading the ot=
her way into Yarmouth. But like the stars of any good B-class science ficti=
on movie we continued blissfully on our way, heading in the very direction =
that everyone else was fleeing from. Still basking in the glory of another=
fun and exciting birding outing we exited at Digby for our scheduled gas s=
top. =E2=80=9CThat's odd=E2=80=9D, we thought the gas station by the exit =
was closed, =E2=80=9Coh well there'll be another one open in Digby=E2=80=9D=
. Wow were we wrong. Nothing was open in Digby! The power was off and Dig=
by was so dark we
actually got lost. Digby in the dark is a scary place. We eventually cam=
e upon a favorite Digby birding spot of ours and reversed engineered our wa=
y back to the relative safety of the 101. By this time, we were getting lo=
w on gas but according to our DUE (Distance Until Empty) Gauge we still had=
71 kilometers left in the tank. So we thought that should be enough to re=
ach civilization again. At the next exit, Exit 25 we were greeted by nothi=
ng but darkness. Exit 24, all is dark. Exit 23 more blackness but these are=
all pretty small exits so we were not worried because coming up was the g=
lorious Exit 22, Annapolis Royal. OH OH! even with their own hydro-powere=
d dam Annapolis Royal was as dark as the dead of night. It's OK, its OK, s=
till enough gas to reach the next exit. At 17 kilometers left on the countd=
own we were approaching Exit 21 and the near-distant lights of Bridgetown n=
ever looked so beautiful. The town wasn't at full power, so we were
having a hard time navigating mostly dark streets. We finally stumble upon=
a blazingly bright motel parking lot jammed full of Nova Scotia Power vehi=
cles. The helpful clerk directed us to the other Bridgetown exit which has=
a 24 hour gas station. A few kilometers later we are pulling into a fully=
lit gas station with a sigh on the door saying closed due to power outage.=
Down to 14 kilometers it was time to call roadside assistance. =E2=80=9C=
No problem=E2=80=9D they said, =E2=80=9Cwe will send someone to you with en=
ough gas to get you to the next open station.=E2=80=9D wait by your vehicle=
and we'll be there in 45 minutes or less.=E2=80=9D Forty minutes later th=
e phone rings and its roadside assistance to apologize that they were unabl=
e to find any gas to bring to us but if we get some somewhere they will rei=
mburse us. lol problem solved. Its now midnight, and according to their s=
ign in a short 6 hours the gas station might be open again. So we are now =
thinking of camping at
the wonderfully scenic gas station parking lot. However before we got rea=
dy to roll out our non-existent sleeping bags we thought we might take anot=
her visit to the RCMP building up the road. We were there earlier but no on=
e other than a very pleasant 911 operator was around to help us. She said =
that they had been receiving calls all day from people who were desperate t=
o find gas and they were directing them to Greenwood only a short 37 kilome=
ters from our current location. Since DTE gauges are not 100 % accurate an=
d we were down to 14 kilometers we decided to walk to the police station th=
is time. As we approached we could see a new vehicle in the parking lot so=
we rang the door buzzer. Two burly RCMP officers appeared and we told our =
tale of woe and asked if they had any emergency gas on hand that perhaps we=
could purchase from them. Surprisingly they did not but the one officer C=
onstable Ross Lloyd volunteered to drive to his own house, get a gas
can he had at home and put whatever gas there was in it into our tank. He=
wasn't sure how much he had but it should be enough to get us to either th=
e 24 hour gas station in Nictaux or the one in Middleton. We attempted to =
pay him a couple of times but he told us to just pass on the favor as well =
as his card as an experiment to see if it ever gets back to him. We took t=
wo cards jumped in the van and headed for next gas station. As it turned o=
ut both the gas stations in Nictaux and Middleton were closed. However due=
to all the gas Constable Lloyd poured into our tank we were able to make i=
t all the way to Coldbrook and found our first open gas station since leavi=
ng the Yarmouth Lighthouse. Well that was our brush with the Dark Side. Th=
anks to kind person going beyond the duty of their position we were able to=
escape the clutches of Hurricane Arthur and drive our way out of the Dark =
Ages. I can hear birds singing out my window right now and I'm
still on a Hurricane High so I think I'll go do some birding. - Cheers, Cl=
arence
---1269787621-940506810-1404769979=:53521
Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
<html><body><div style=3D"color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:He=
lveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;fo=
nt-size:10pt"><div><span>So enjoyed reading this!!</span></div><div style=
=3D"color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvet=
ica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px; font-style: norm=
al; background-color: transparent;"><span>Cheers!</span></div><div style=3D=
"color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica=
, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px; font-style: normal;=
background-color: transparent;"><span>Gayle MacLean</span></div><div style=
=3D"color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvet=
ica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px; font-style: norm=
al; background-color: transparent;"><span>Dartmouth</span></div> <div class=
=3D"qtdSeparateBR"><br><br></div><div class=3D"yahoo_quoted" style=3D"displ=
ay:
block;"> <div style=3D"font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helveti=
ca, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <div style=3D"font=
-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sa=
ns-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <div dir=3D"ltr"> <font face=3D"Arial" size=3D=
"2"> On Monday, July 7, 2014 4:58:30 PM, Don MacNeill <donmacneill@bella=
liant.net> wrote:<br> </font> </div> <br><br> <div class=3D"y_msg_conta=
iner"><div id=3D"yiv9792410488">=0A =0A =0A =0A <div>=0A <div clas=
s=3D"yiv9792410488moz-cite-prefix"><font face=3D"Calibri">Wonderful story=
=0A Clarence.<br>=0A <br>=0A </font>=0A <div class=
=3D"yiv9792410488moz-signature">Don MacNeill=0A <a class=3D"yiv97924=
10488moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href=3D"mailto:donmacneill@bellaliant.net" t=
arget=3D"_blank" rel=3D"nofollow" ymailto=3D"mailto:donmacneill@bellaliant.=
net">donmacneill@bellaliant.net</a></div>=0A On 07/07/2014 6:30 AM, Cl=
arence Stevens wrote:<br>=0A </div>=0A <blockquote type=3D"cite">=0A =
<pre>Hi All, Its 3:30 am Monday morning and Dad and I have just return=
ed from birding parts of Digby & Yarmouth Counties. I'm too wired to sl=
eep so I figure I might as well do a posting. In 5 hours of birding today =
we found 30 Black Skimmers, 5 Gull-billed Terns, 4 Royal Terns, 2 Sandwich =
Terns, 1 Forester's Tern and like Ronny & Alix - who were birding many =
of the same areas as we were - to many Laughing Gulls to count. =0A=0AAll t=
he way to Yarmouth there were Laughing Gulls on the shorelines. Laughing Gu=
lls out over the waves. Laughing Gulls on the beaches following people arou=
nd begging for potato chips. We even had two flocks of Laughing Gulls roost=
ing in a field. =0A=0AFor us, one of the best locations was Mavilette Beach=
. There in one flock of very obliging birds there were 22 Black Skimmers, 3=
Gull-billed Terns, and 1 Foresters Tern. All were posing nicely on a rive=
r sandbar across from one the entrances to Mavilette Beach and behind them =
in salt-marsh a 4th Gull-billed Tern was flying around. =0A=0AAt Salmon Riv=
er we missed their Black Skimmer but did see their Gull-billed Tern along w=
ith 3 more Laughing Gulls. =0A=0AAt Pembroke Beach we got our first Royal T=
ern and of course more Laughing Gulls. =0A=0ABetween Overton and Yarmouth B=
ar we added 7 Black Skimmers and 2 Sandwich Terns. The first Sandwich Tern=
was at scope distance, sitting on some wooden posts in Yarmouth Harbour. H=
owever the second was a very close, stunning plumaged bird on the shoreline=
just before Yarmouth Bar. =0A=0AJust past the bar and the long cement wal=
l, at the big bend in the road there is a popular pull-over for scanning th=
e ocean. There we watched 3 more Royal Terns repeatedly diving into the sur=
f like miniature Gannets. =0A=0A>From Yarmouth Light we birded our way b=
ack to Mavilette Beach. There were no new hurricane additions but we did pi=
ck up an American Bittern in the marsh behind Mavilette Beach. =0A=0A=0AAtt=
ention:For those just interested in bird species we sighted feel free to st=
op reading now and move on to another juicy Hurricane Posting. For the res=
t, read on. =0A=0AWith a pocketful of hurricane delights and multiple lifer=
s for two counties we headed home, another adventure completed. Or so we t=
hought. =0A=0AMany times just after dark we have traveled the highway from =
Yarmouth to Digby. After ten this road can be pretty quiet, so we were surp=
rised at all the cars that were passing us, heading the other way into Yarm=
outh. But like the stars of any good B-class science fiction movie we conti=
nued blissfully on our way, heading in the very direction that everyone els=
e was fleeing from. =0A=0AStill basking in the glory of another fun and exc=
iting birding outing we exited at Digby for our scheduled gas stop. =E2=80=
=9CThat's odd=E2=80=9D, we thought the gas station by the exit was closed, =
=E2=80=9Coh well there'll be another one open in Digby=E2=80=9D. Wow were w=
e wrong. Nothing was open in Digby! =0A=0AThe power was off and Digby was =
so dark we actually got lost. Digby in the dark is a scary place. =0A=0AWe=
eventually came upon a favorite Digby birding spot of ours and reversed en=
gineered our way back to the relative safety of the 101. =0A=0ABy this time=
, we were getting low on gas but according to our DUE (Distance Until Empty=
) Gauge we still had 71 kilometers left in the tank. So we thought that sh=
ould be enough to reach civilization again. =0A=0AAt the next exit, Exit 25=
we were greeted by nothing but darkness. Exit 24, all is dark. Exit 23 mor=
e blackness but these are all pretty small exits so we were not worried be=
cause coming up was the glorious Exit 22, Annapolis Royal. =0A=0AOH OH! ev=
en with their own hydro-powered dam Annapolis Royal was as dark as the dead=
of night. =0A=0AIt's OK, its OK, still enough gas to reach the next exit. =
At 17 kilometers left on the countdown we were approaching Exit 21 and the =
near-distant lights of Bridgetown never looked so beautiful. =0A=0AThe town=
wasn't at full power, so we were having a hard time navigating mostly dark=
streets. We finally stumble upon a blazingly bright motel parking lot jamm=
ed full of Nova Scotia Power vehicles. The helpful clerk directed us to th=
e other Bridgetown exit which has a 24 hour gas station. =0A=0AA few kilome=
ters later we are pulling into a fully lit gas station with a sigh on the d=
oor saying closed due to power outage. =0A=0ADown to 14 kilometers it was t=
ime to call roadside assistance. =E2=80=9CNo problem=E2=80=9D they said, =
=E2=80=9Cwe will send someone to you with enough gas to get you to the next=
open station.=E2=80=9D wait by your vehicle and we'll be there in 45 minut=
es or less.=E2=80=9D =0A=0AForty minutes later the phone rings and its road=
side assistance to apologize that they were unable to find any gas to bring=
to us but if we get some somewhere they will reimburse us. lol problem so=
lved. =0A=0AIts now midnight, and according to their sign in a short 6 hour=
s the gas station might be open again. So we are now thinking of camping a=
t the wonderfully scenic gas station parking lot. =0A=0AHowever before we g=
ot ready to roll out our non-existent sleeping bags we thought we might tak=
e another visit to the RCMP building up the road. We were there earlier but=
no one other than a very pleasant 911 operator was around to help us. She=
said that they had been receiving calls all day from people who were despe=
rate to find gas and they were directing them to Greenwood only a short 37 =
kilometers from our current location. =0A=0ASince DTE gauges are not 100 % =
accurate and we were down to 14 kilometers we decided to walk to the police=
station this time. =0A=0AAs we approached we could see a new vehicle in th=
e parking lot so we rang the door buzzer.=0A=0ATwo burly RCMP officers appe=
ared and we told our tale of woe and asked if they had any emergency gas on=
hand that perhaps we could purchase from them. =0A=0ASurprisingly they did=
not but the one officer Constable Ross Lloyd volunteered to drive to his o=
wn house, get a gas can he had at home and put whatever gas there was in it=
into our tank. He wasn't sure how much he had but it should be enough to =
get us to either the 24 hour gas station in Nictaux or the one in Middleton=
. =0A=0AWe attempted to pay him a couple of times but he told us to just pa=
ss on the favor as well as his card as an experiment to see if it ever gets=
back to him. We took two cards jumped in the van and headed for next gas =
station. =0A=0AAs it turned out both the gas stations in Nictaux and Middle=
ton were closed. However due to all the gas Constable Lloyd poured into ou=
r tank we were able to make it all the way to Coldbrook and found our first=
open gas station since leaving the Yarmouth Lighthouse.=0A=0AWell that was=
our brush with the Dark Side. Thanks to kind person going beyond the duty=
of their position we were able to escape the clutches of Hurricane Arthur =
and drive our way out of the Dark Ages. =0A=0AI can hear birds singing out =
my window right now and I'm still on a Hurricane High so I think I'll go do=
some birding. - Cheers, Clarence =0A=0A=0A</pre>=0A </blockquote>=0A =
<br>=0A </div>=0A=0A</div><br><br></div> </div> </div> </div> </div></b=
ody></html>
---1269787621-940506810-1404769979=:53521--
next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects