FOR THE BIRDS

MAY 2002

By

Helen O'Shea

Sightings

• Victor Anderson knows where all the birds over-wintered - they were eating more than 150 pounds of black-oil sunflower seed at his feeders. He had 50 White-winged Crossbills, some Red Crossbills and up to 150 Evening Grosbeaks. There was an immature Blue Grosbeak there for a couple of days in January. He had Purple Finch all winter as well as Common Redpolls. He has lots of Juncos, a Blue Jay with a white head, and a Sharp-shinned Hawk.
    
• Ray Johnson reported sighting his first Robin on April 13. He is now watching them pair up. He commented that the Crows chase the Robins off when he throws food outside for them.
    
• Pearl Magee heard the strangest noise on May 2. She said that it was unusual and very loud in her living room that she was completely baffled. Upon further investigation, she discovered that the Yellow-shafted Flicker she had watched in the yard earlier in the morning was now perched atop the brick section of the chimney and was pecking on the metal extension of the chimney. The sound echoed through the chimney and into the stove in her living room. She had a marvellous sighting on April 23 of a flock of 30 American Robins sitting in the hardwood trees near the home of Toby Fudge. Her first Robin appeared on March 15. More exciting was the V of eight to ten Great Blue Heron flying toward Louisbourg that she saw on the Sydney side of Route 22 and the New Boston Road on April 30. She has had Purple Finch, Evening Grosbeak and a Cowbird in her yard and a mature Bald Eagle swoops low over her property weekly. If it could talk perhaps it could explain why her cat is missing.
    
• Sean Magee observed a Pileated Woodpecker near Clarke’s Road April 15.
    
• Winston Magee saw a male Common Pintail at the Fortress Barachois on April 7.
    
• Juanita Paige and Dora Fudge watched a Yellow-shafted Flicker worming on the lawn on early April 30.
    
• Carson and Juanita Paige saw a Mourning Dove on April 13 and looked up the book to identify it. Keep up the good work Carson.
    
• Margie and Marmon Smith watched a mature Bald Eagle circling their property and nearby yards for 5 minutes on April 12. They also had a large flock of Common Grackles and 2 pair of Brown-headed Cowbirds.
    
• Debbi Smith-Kennedy reported hearing a Woodpecker near her house in Catalone and ducks making a flap, flap, glide noise as they flew overhead.
    
• Pat Bates told me that the Mourning Doves he had at his feeders were all gone by late April.
    
• Colleen Rosta watched 2 sets of Canada Geese fly very low overhead in v-formation on April 26. The first group had 25 and the second flock had 50. She usually sees Bald Eagles every day on the Bras d’Or Lakes but that day saw 4. Joe is preparing to feed hummingbirds for the first time after a winter of feeding birds. On April 20 she and Joe watched A Great Blue Heron fly up from the water near the ramp to North Sydney near the Cape Breton Shopping Plaza.
    
• Sandy Balcom admires a mature Bald Eagle that sits atop Black Rock on the Fortress site.
    
• Bill O’Shea had an eagle eye when he pointed out a bedraggled Northern Mockingbird in the rose bushes on the edge of the back yard on April 16. It was being chased by a Blue Jay. It was behaving in a different manner from our sleek, aggressive Northern Mockingbird that has over-wintered here. At different times, both enjoyed the pear pieces on the ledge of the feeder. Since that day we have not seen both in the yard at the same time. Was it a vagrant or a mate?
    
• Darryl Peck commented on the size of the Common Mergansers. They are larger than Red-breasted Mergansers and chase the smelt—especially in the Mira River.
    
• Chris Gartland reported a female Hairy Woodpecker on the porch of Gisele and Paul Gartland the afternoon of April 29.
    
• Mona MacLeod of Catalone had a Yellow-rumped Warbler from the first part of January until March 30.
    
• Patsy Harris and Mary MacMullin watched a Herring Gull with a broken wing behind the apartment building. Patsy asked Joan Shepard to see that it got food and water. They could watch it drinking. It sheltered under the back steps and was in the area for 5 days before vanishing. Difficult as it might be to accept, there is not much one can do about a bird with this critical injury since starvation or predation by another animal is the common result.

Around the town

April 17, I watched 6 Evening Grosbeaks, 8 Grackles, and 2 Crows sit in the trees at the home of Peter Chiasson and Sandy Anthony. An American Robin was in the yard of Danny and Mabel Hanham. A flock of about 75 Common Grackles have been seen in the trees beside the homes of Albertina and Joao Matias, Margie MacMillan, Donald and Isabelle Cross, Larry Rudderham, Elaine and Gary Carter. These Grackles took over our yard, feeders and trees the afternoon of April 22. They devoured everything in sight until the arrival of the Sharp-shinned Hawk. Han Beck lawn had 30 American Robins searching for worms on a sunny, mild April 22. 12 to 14 Robins are in the field beside the home of Alfredine and Bill Baldwin on a regular basis. Nearly that number frequently search for worms on the lawn of Olive and John Spawn.

A female Hairy Woodpecker was in the tree beside the trailer of Sheri and Charlie Lahey on April 22. May 2 an immature Bald Eagle flew about 10 feet above my head as I walked toward the front door of the Visitor Centre. I guess it was just eager to see why people were there.

Around the harbour

On April 13 a birding expedition on a windy overcast day revealed 20 Bufflehead, a pair of Goldeneye, 6 dozen Black Duck, a Common Loon, and a pair of Red-breasted Merganser fishing in a pond at the Fortress site. A mature Bald Eagle dove spooking the ducks. There were sea urchin shells along the quay and gulls were dropping these sea urchins along the shore. There was a male Northern Harrier coursing near a pond behind the Fire Hall and Cormorants, Gulls, and Loons at the Barachois. Along Commercial Street there were 2 pair of Red-breasted Mergansers, 15 Gulls, and 6 Crows. April 22 at the Havenside Barachois there was a pair of Common Mergansers and six gulls catching silver fish. A dozen gulls were fishing in Gerrat’s Barachois. 15 Gulls were on the Playhouse roof and 8 Ring-billed Gulls were on Havenside in the harbour. Loons in breeding plumage are now seen at Catalone Lake, the Mira River and along the shore.

At my feeders

Our Northern Mockingbird "I’m here for the pear" shows up daily and swoops to the feeder as soon as this treat is placed on the ledge. April 21 a femaleYellow-Shafted Flicker was on the top of the wooden clothesline post for half an hour. She then moved to the ground to hunt for grubs, etc. and was frightened away by the Northern Mockingbird. That same day we had a male Red Crossbill, a female Cowbird, and a female Evening Grosbeak. The White-throated Sparrow of the white stripe variety chased a Junco. We have had up to 60 Juncos. They move around so much that it is difficult to count how many are in the trees and yard. April 22 a Crow flew overhead with nesting material in its beak. That afternoon the immature Sharp-shinned Hawk scattered a huge flock of Juncos by the feeders and several bounced off the back windows. 2 pair of Brown-headed Cowbirds arrived that afternoon and a gray cat attempted to nab a bird under the feeder. The 50 Common Grackles of that afternoon were chased by the Sharp-shinned Hawk and never returned to our yard.

New Arrivals

• A tan variety of White-throated Sparrow arrived on April 15. On April 21 a white-striped variety of White-throated Sparrow arrived. A male Purple Finch perched on the disselfink on April 28.
    
• A pair of Pine Siskins arrived April 30. It was their first appearance since the Redpolls arrived earlier this winter.
    
• 2 male Red Crossbills were at the feeder May 2. The same day a Savannah Sparrow appeared. We also have 2 Song Sparrows—one a rufous variation. In the Sibley Guide there is an illustration of this reddish version with the same markings as a Song Sparrow but almost the same colour as a Fox Sparrow. Pearl Magee has also had this reddish bird in her yard.

A suggestion for Mother’s Day: If your mother is a birder, consider giving her National Audubon Society The Sibley Guide to the Birds written and illustrated by David Allen Sibley. You will see a dazzling variation of illustrations, range maps, pages of the full range of similar birds. Your Mom might let you borrow it.

The last Fox Sparrow

April 9 we had 9 Fox Sparrows in the yard. 12 were here on April 11. By April 17 we thought they were gone. Then, another arrived April 18. One Fox Sparrow was in the yard April 22 and a new nervous one arrived April 25. It lingered until April 28—a sunny Sunday. Pearl Magee had her last Fox Sparrow on April 24.

Prepare for the Hummingbirds: Boil 1 cup water and add ¼ cup sugar. Let cool and pour into clean feeder. Victor Anderson usually has the first Ruby-throated Hummingbirds around May 8.

Piebald Deer at Fortress

Each fall and winter a number of deer move into the historic site. One of the strange ones this year is a piebald deer - a combination of brown and white. It seems that about 1 in 10,000 deer have this feature.

	She had been around the Fortress bog but fed on kelp throughout the winter at White Point. The photo was taken on March 3.
Please Click on the  Image to Enlarge it	Helen O’Shea

Extracted from © The Seagull, Helen O'Shea, For the Birds

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