It’s been a ‘crazy shorebird spring” this year in Nova Scotia.  Alix d’Entremont coined that phrase and I’m inclined to agree.

Alix or someone equally geekier about birds than me (yeah I just need time to catch up I’ll get there) might know why all I know at this point is we are getting a lot of “overshoots” mixed in with the typical flocks.

Naturally most of these landed in CSI (Cape Sable Island) such as the very rare Curlew Sandpipers, but the Eastern Shore is getting our share of good views as well.

The shorebirds are in good numbers and lingering for nice sightings which is really fun and I finally got to see a Red Knot which I totally missed last year.

Now I must confess it took me a lot of tries to find the Red Knot.  On May 9^th I found a large number of shorebirds that had just flown in at low tide in the back bay at Hartlen Point.  I was pretty excited about it until I got home and looked at eBird and realized that David Currie had found Red Knots amidst the shorebirds.

We birders are always jealous about what we don’t see and a difficult to satisfy bunch it seems.  And so I went back again at low tide in the back bay and no luck.  Then my friend Diane came over to help me look and I tried at mid-tide but that was not the right time to check the back bay for shorebirds it turned out.  We did see two Black-bellied Plovers on the beach but didn’t realize at the time that we should have stayed there.  The Red Knots feed differently and would likely never have been found in the back bay in all likelihood.  I did eventually figure out that I needed to scour the beach and rocks at the beach up by the main road and as I approached the area where they were David hailed me over and I finally got to watch 4 of them for a good while feeding with the Black-bellied Plovers and Ruddy Turnstones just like the Sibley’s Guide said they should be.  Whew!

Thanks Dave for helping me finally find the Red Knots!

Now honestly in the meantime I had gone out to see them in Three Fathom Harbour because I was growing impatient to get my lifer!  With my new Border Collie tied to my waist I wandered out on the low tide flats watching a massive group of shorebirds and birding friend Liz Voellinger on the other side of the water scoping them.  After she got her fill of the view I texted her and she said it was okay to come over with the dog.  So we drove over and got a closer view although on this side there was a lot of glare.

Liz scoping the flock.

While all this was going on Andy De Champlain was on the way over to see if he might get a view of the Red Knots too but the tide covered the sandbars just as he approached and the birds flew off.  Sorry Andy!  But we did go to Conrad’s Beach on the way back and find some lovely Sanderlings who were firsts for the year for both of us.  Birding is usually full of disappointments and wonderful surprises, and rarely boring.

Andy smiling as always 🙂

Even though I’d seen the Red Knots twice that day I headed out one more time with a 3 birding friends to see them one more time in Three Fathom Harbour.  You only get so many sunny days full of migrants and good folk you know.

B, Angie, and Tony scoping the flats for Red Knots. Yes we found one!

I must say I really am enjoying seeing the Shorebirds in their breeding plumages as I didn’t really take much notice of them until later in summer and fall last year when they are much duller looking.  The Black-bellied Plover in particular are spectacular.

Silver Sands Beach is often deserted during weekdays so one morning I had a 2 hour walk with Macy tied to my waist and got to enjoy lots of Black-bellied Plovers and Dowitchers at low tide and watch the Barn Swallows flying over the beach.  Having the beach to yourself is always lovely but with all the great company but all the better with your best canine friend and some cool shorebirds.

A lovely Wilson’s Phalarope was found during the Migration Counts yesterday in Chezzetcook and spotted again this morning so I decided I would put the collie in the car and head out to find it.  It was good enough to put on a lovely show, I got to chat with two fellow birders in the field, and afterwards stopped for a nice walk with Macy as she was good enough to sit that one out in the car so we didn’t spook it.

I believe this is the first bird I’ve personally seen where the female has fancier breeding plumage than the male.  Typically, that is not the case so it was fun to learn this about this species and have that be new to me.

Both the Red Knot and the Wilson’s Phalarope were lifers and “Nova Scotia ticks” for me putting me at 197 for my NS ticks so I’m going a bit crazy hoping to hit 200.  That is a milestone I’ve had my eye on for a while and I know it’s going to get really hard after that and I don’t really have a next milestone in mind.  For the most part I just enjoy birding and learning about the behavior and habitat of the birds and being outdoors.  But I get to have one to strive for right?

Happy Migration Season.

I am truly disappointed but my trip to Connecticut to do some birding is cancelled. It’s a long sad story I won’t get into, but let’s assume the universe wants me back in Nova Scotia to report Spring migrants?

Temporarily I’m in NB and trying to do a little birding before making my way back home. It’s largely incidental but I’ll take what I can get.

I’ve only been in St. Andrews and Fredericton and in both locations I noted Eastern Phoebes in plain sight as I was driving down back roads. On Friday I saw one sitting on power line not far from my house back in Eastern Passage so clearly they are arriving to Atlantic Canada in abundance. I have not been checking migration maps as I’m new and don’t think of these things but my friends at the Crocker Hill Store in St. Andrews mentioned this today. Duly noted, and naturally I will use this as a birding wish list and am likely not alone in that regard.

My photos of the Phoebes from this week suck but here is a nice one I took on April 19th last Spring. I didn’t know what it was at the time but now I can spot them as readily as chickadees.

Eastern Phoebe April 19, 2015 Hartlen Point

The part of NB I’m in is very woody and marshy so woodland birds are abundant. The drumming of woodpeckers and squawking flickers is all over. Nuthatch are beeping and creepers whistling.

This is a road, not a marsh and yes a muskrat is swimming across it.

It’s neat because I confirmed something that I’ve suspected for a while now. Quite often when I’m birding with people we hear what we think is Golden-crowned Kinglets but don’t see them. I’ve been thinking for some time now that some of these must be Brown Creepers and proved my theory today because I waited and waited for the Kinglet to appear (and they are nosey they appear if they are actually there I find) and I saw a small flash and searched all the tree trunks and voila. Creeper. So be aware all that these guys sound a lot alike and you will often be fooled.

Brown Creeper April 25, 2016 Moores Mill Cross Road

My photos are not great for a variety of reasons but here is one of the 4 Red-breasted Nuthatch I found on a trail in St. Andrews.

Red-breasted Nuthatch April 24 St. Andrews

A Ruffed Grouse appeared in front of my car as dusk approached. Later followed by a set of eyes crossing the road that I expect belonged to a deer, and then a large porcupine that I managed to get around on the highway. Thank you for lean traffic and wide shoulders as that would have been a horrible day for my car and for the porcupine.

Ruffed Grouse April 25, 2016 Harvey County, NB

At one point before the sun went down I stopped at a marshy spot somewhere in the boonies around Harvey and was surrounded by the sounds of many woodland birds and a few Yellow-rumped Warblers dropped by to say hello and I heard my first Hermit Thrush singing that most delightful song of theirs. Some ducks flew off before I could id them so I’ll be they were those Blue-winged Teal that seem to be all over the eBird reports in this area.

They are my target bird to find before returning to Nova Scotia. I hope I can work them into my day tomorrow as I have a lot to do and reality so often gets in the way of good birding, but such is life…

Things all started well and I stopped briefly while still in Nova Scotia on Sunday to snap this pair of Common Mergansers. I love the misses hairdo. April 24, 2016 just outside of Amherst.

My day was slated to be spent at Myra Run with Diane and Sean, and Chris who very kindly offered to be our guide, searching for crossbills but the windy weather is less than ideal for finches so we put that on hold for a better day.

When Paul got in touch yesterday about looking for Harlequins this week I said let’s do it Monday because Diane and Sean live in Harlequin territory and have the day free, the windy weather is good for blowing things onto that shore, and the Harlequins won’t let a little wind get them down.

We started out at Chebucto Head where I’d hoped we might get some Kittiwakes close to shore but I didn’t realize and Easterly wind is probably best for a sea watch.  So much to learn!  Hence Chebucto Head was a bit of a bust for birds, but a place to visit for the vista for sure and well enjoyed by all of us.

And so off we went to Crystal Crescent Beach in search of the Harlequin Ducks to no avail.  Perhaps they were in Prospect today or Peggy’s Cove or just flew in behind us from further up the hike.  We went just past the 3^rd beach which is usually a guaranteed spot as of late but no go.

Although with the wind it was not a terribly birdy day we were greatly entertained by 8 American Pipits.

The absence of Harlequins and uncommon sea birds made us question and second and third every bird we saw in the water which turned out to be wise as not for from the parking lot we spotted a Phalarope fairly close to shore.

Through binos we could at least determine it was not a Guillemot, and next that it was not a small gull such as a Bonaparte’s but with the new cameras you can zoom in almost as far as a scope so I was able to see the line through the eye and also realized it was spinning a bit and shouted out Phalarope.  Bing…we have a winner.  Next onto the phone to Sibleys to confirm and also Paul had seen them in Calgary.  We came up with Red-necked being the more likely of our two native Phalaropes but it turned out to be a Red Phalarope.

None of knew at the time that either of the two would be a very rare sighting for this time of the year and the first record for the DoWL.  Proving you always have to expect the unexpected as they say, and having an extra day in February is cool for more reasons than we thought  🙂

Honestly we would have been happy for a walk on the beach in the sunshine on the last day of February.

Diane, Sean, and Paul aka Team Phalarope

And for me that ends my first winter list at 106 birds and quite a few uncommon ones, thank you El Niño I suppose?  Well and to birding friends who help ID things when we are out of course.

I find it very interesting that it was easy to get that many birds in the winter period without doing anything different than I usually would.  So I didn’t go for some easy grabs such as the Wood Duck or Peregrine Falcon, and some I saw last year as a brand new birder didn’t turn up, but I also ended up with some surprises and it all balances out I suppose.

Perhaps I’ll never keep a winter list again but I’m glad I did it for learning purposes.

And here is what appeared for me from December 1^st 2015 – February 29^th 2016 and ended with our very interesting Leap Year rarity, our little friend the Red Phalarope.

Much serendipity to you in birding,

Angela