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--Apple-Mail=_7828DFFA-3BF9-490A-A67D-05C580516E0F Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252 > From: Jim Wolford <jimwolford@eastlink.ca> > Subject: report on SHEFFIELD MILLS EAGLE WATCH WEEKEND ONE (long) > Date: February 2, 2016 at 4:55:30 PM AST > To: Nature BNS <nature@blomidonnaturalists.ca> > Cc: Jim Wolford <jimwolford@eastlink.ca> >=20 > JAN. 30-31, 2016 [Sat.-Sun.] - SHEFFIELD MILLS EAGLE WATCH =97 Both = days had very mild temperatures, above +10 C., and light winds, plus = perhaps 15 cm. of fresh snow on Sat. morning. The fresh snow should = have helped in getting eagles to feeding locations, and conditions were = great for gawkers to stand around and wait for action there, but = Saturday was nearly a total bust for the Eagle Watch (and Sunday wasn=92t = much better).=20 >=20 > As usual, on Sat. there were a few dozen cars at the feeding site at = the north end of Middle Dyke Road, but the biggest number of bald eagles = there was 11 (others may have seen more), and all they did was sit in = the trees with very little flying around and little or no going after = the ample supply of cut-up large pieces of chicken carrion (the daily = small proportion of the chicken-barn population that dies each night).=20= >=20 > The landscape was gorgeous on Sat. morning, with all the new-fallen = snow on the trees, bushes, and ground. I=92m sure that Fri./Sat.=92s = snow deterred a lot of people from driving anywhere on Sat. On my way = out to Sheffield Mills, I saw 8+ eagles at Church St. & Hwy. 358, and = another 6 at Saxon Street Pond (where there were 18 all perched together = on Sunday). =20 >=20 > Frustrated photographers on both days found other groups of perched = eagles in other parts of eastern King=92s County, where dead chickens = are offered by other poultry producers, but all of this is no different = this year. Thus a certain amount of searching/driving around is = necessary, plus revisiting sites.=20 >=20 > I cannot explain the small numbers of eagles on Sat., nor their = apparent lack of hunger. The carcasses on the ground were also not = attracting the ravens or crows or great black-backed gulls. Some gulls = and ravens were finally attracted on Sun. afternoon. >=20 > Sunday was about the same at the main site in the morning, with low = numbers of perched eagles and no feeding activity by them, but now there = were many, many more cars and gawkers and quite a traffic jam = (predictable). Mostly there were only a dozen or so eagles, but then in = the afternoon a bunch more flew into the area, so that by 2 p.m. I = counted at least 40 eagles, most of them perched in groups like = ornaments in the trees. Also by then there was a fair amount of flying = back and forth across the big field. I didn=92t see any eagles grabbing = food from the ground, but a few eagles in the trees had carcasses and = were feeding. One feeding eagle that was just west of the road = attracted a lot of photographers who had to walk through the snow to = approach it. >=20 > Sunday was a much better day at the community hall in terms of parked = cars and breakfasts sold ($7 and I=92m addicted to the blueberry sauce). = Upstairs in the hall, there was very little of interest =97 just the = usual displays from Acadia Biology & Blomidon Naturalists Society, plus = Glenn Ells & BNS selling various books and calendars (the BNS calendar = can now be gotten for $10, I think). No videos, no crafts nor photos = for sale. >=20 > Let=92s all hope that the coming weekend will be better for our usual = behaviour of the hungry bald eagles and the gawkers/photographers, many = of whom come from long distances and contribute to the local culture and = economy in lots of ways. Find out more about what=92s happening Feb. = 6-7 on www.eaglens.ca . >=20 > As Donna Crossland said in conversation earlier, maybe it=92s finally = time that we as a rural community confront some issues like the way our = poultry is raised as well as whether our local scavengers like bald = eagles should be artificially provided with agricultural carrion?? >=20 > Nova Scotia=92s Dept. of Natural Resources has promised for decades to = provide some real regulations (as opposed to voluntary guidelines) for = this artificial feeding of wildlife. To my knowledge, there have been = only two of our local poultry farmers, Matt Harvie and the late Bill = Swetnam (and now his two sons), who took it upon themselves to move = their feeding spots well away from their farm buildings. > =97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=20 > Cheers from Jim in Wolfville. --Apple-Mail=_7828DFFA-3BF9-490A-A67D-05C580516E0F Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset=windows-1252 <html><head><meta http-equiv=3D"Content-Type" content=3D"text/html = charset=3Dwindows-1252"></head><body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; = -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: = after-white-space;"><div><div><br></div><blockquote type=3D"cite"><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px;"><span style=3D"font-family:'Helvetica'; color:rgba(0, = 0, 0, 1.0);"><b>From: </b></span><span = style=3D"font-family:'Helvetica';">Jim Wolford <<a = href=3D"mailto:jimwolford@eastlink.ca">jimwolford@eastlink.ca</a>><br><= /span></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span = style=3D"font-family:'Helvetica'; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);"><b>Subject: = </b></span><span style=3D"font-family:'Helvetica';"><b>report on = SHEFFIELD MILLS EAGLE WATCH WEEKEND ONE (long)</b><br></span></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px;"><span style=3D"font-family:'Helvetica'; color:rgba(0, = 0, 0, 1.0);"><b>Date: </b></span><span = style=3D"font-family:'Helvetica';">February 2, 2016 at 4:55:30 PM = AST<br></span></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span = style=3D"font-family:'Helvetica'; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);"><b>To: = </b></span><span style=3D"font-family:'Helvetica';">Nature BNS <<a = href=3D"mailto:nature@blomidonnaturalists.ca">nature@blomidonnaturalists.c= a</a>><br></span></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: = 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span = style=3D"font-family:'Helvetica'; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);"><b>Cc: = </b></span><span style=3D"font-family:'Helvetica';">Jim Wolford <<a = href=3D"mailto:jimwolford@eastlink.ca">jimwolford@eastlink.ca</a>><br><= /span></div><br><div><meta http-equiv=3D"Content-Type" = content=3D"text/html charset=3Dwindows-1252"><div style=3D"word-wrap: = break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: = after-white-space;"><div style=3D"margin: 0px;"><b>JAN. 30-31, 2016 = [Sat.-Sun.] - SHEFFIELD MILLS EAGLE WATCH</b> =97 Both days had very = mild temperatures, above +10 C., and light winds, plus perhaps 15 cm. of = fresh snow on Sat. morning. The fresh snow should have helped in = getting eagles to feeding locations, and conditions were great for = gawkers to stand around and wait for action there, but Saturday was = nearly a total bust for the Eagle Watch (and Sunday wasn=92t much = better). </div><div style=3D"margin: 0px; min-height: = 14px;"><br></div><div style=3D"margin: 0px;">As usual, on Sat. there = were a few dozen cars at the feeding site at the north end of Middle = Dyke Road, but the biggest number of bald eagles there was 11 (others = may have seen more), and all they did was sit in the trees with very = little flying around and little or no going after the ample supply of = cut-up large pieces of chicken carrion (the daily small proportion of = the chicken-barn population that dies each night). </div><div = style=3D"margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div style=3D"margin: = 0px;">The landscape was gorgeous on Sat. morning, with all the = new-fallen snow on the trees, bushes, and ground. I=92m sure that = Fri./Sat.=92s snow deterred a lot of people from driving anywhere on = Sat. On my way out to Sheffield Mills, I saw 8+ eagles at Church = St. & Hwy. 358, and another 6 at Saxon Street Pond (where there were = 18 all perched together on Sunday). </div><div style=3D"margin: = 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div style=3D"margin: 0px;">Frustrated = photographers on both days found other groups of perched eagles in other = parts of eastern King=92s County, where dead chickens are offered by = other poultry producers, but all of this is no different this = year. Thus a certain amount of searching/driving around is = necessary, plus revisiting sites. </div><div style=3D"margin: 0px; = min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div style=3D"margin: 0px;">I cannot = explain the small numbers of eagles on Sat., nor their apparent lack of = hunger. The carcasses on the ground were also not attracting the = ravens or crows or great black-backed gulls. Some gulls and ravens = were finally attracted on Sun. afternoon.</div><div style=3D"margin: = 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div style=3D"margin: 0px;">Sunday was = about the same at the main site in the morning, with low numbers of = perched eagles and no feeding activity by them, but now there were many, = many more cars and gawkers and quite a traffic jam (predictable). = Mostly there were only a dozen or so eagles, but then in the afternoon a = bunch more flew into the area, so that by 2 p.m. I counted <b>at least = 40 eagles</b>, most of them perched in groups like ornaments in the = trees. Also by then there was a fair amount of flying back and = forth across the big field. I didn=92t see any eagles grabbing = food from the ground, but a few eagles in the trees had carcasses and = were feeding. One feeding eagle that was just west of the road = attracted a lot of photographers who had to walk through the snow to = approach it.</div><div style=3D"margin: 0px; min-height: = 14px;"><br></div><div style=3D"margin: 0px;">Sunday was a much better = day at the community hall in terms of parked cars and breakfasts sold = ($7 and I=92m addicted to the blueberry sauce). Upstairs in the = hall, there was very little of interest =97 just the usual displays from = Acadia Biology & Blomidon Naturalists Society, plus Glenn Ells & = BNS selling various books and calendars (the BNS calendar can now be = gotten for $10, I think). No videos, no crafts nor photos for = sale.</div><div style=3D"margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div = style=3D"margin: 0px;"><b>Let=92s all hope that the coming weekend will = be better</b> for our usual behaviour of the hungry bald eagles and the = gawkers/photographers, many of whom come from long distances and = contribute to the local culture and economy in lots of ways. Find = out more about what=92s happening Feb. 6-7 on <b><a = href=3D"http://www.eaglens.ca/">www.eaglens.ca</a></b> .</div><div = style=3D"margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div style=3D"margin: = 0px;">As Donna Crossland said in conversation earlier, maybe it=92s = finally time that we as a rural community confront some issues like the = way our poultry is raised as well as whether our local scavengers like = bald eagles should be artificially provided with agricultural = carrion??</div><div style=3D"margin: 0px; min-height: = 14px;"><br></div><div style=3D"margin: 0px;">Nova Scotia=92s Dept. of = Natural Resources has promised for decades to provide some real = regulations (as opposed to voluntary guidelines) for this artificial = feeding of wildlife. To my knowledge, there have been only two of = our local poultry farmers, Matt Harvie and the late Bill Swetnam (and = now his two sons), who took it upon themselves to move their feeding = spots well away from their farm buildings.</div><div style=3D"margin: = 0px;">=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97 </div><div>Cheers = from Jim in = Wolfville.</div></div></div></blockquote></div><br></body></html>= --Apple-Mail=_7828DFFA-3BF9-490A-A67D-05C580516E0F--
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