I am a new birder as you  may know.  I got hooked just after New Year’s when I ventured up to Hartlen Point to see the Eurasian Kestrel and met some nice birders, and it became official when I got my new camera at the end of February 2015.

As a member of the Nova Scotia Bird Society I am able to interact with other birders both in person, and on their Facebook group and I must admit I have a wee case of Cape Sable Island envy.  There are a group of birders who live on Cape Sable Island who always get shots of amazing birds like every day and post them on Facebook.  Really great birds…all the time…LOL  Because Cape Sable Island is such a fantastic place for birds that people actually choose to live there to be close to the birds.  People retire there from other parts of the country and from the states, it is that good.  And these people take serious photos, yup.

But this little jealous birder is also fortunate enough to live by another great birding spot, Hartlen Point (and across the water if I choose to drive over is Duncan’s Cove and Sandy Cove also fantastic).  It is in fact close enough for me to walk to if I choose.  It is one of the best migratory points in Nova Scotia it turns out.  So being jealous really is silly.  I just need to start getting up earlier, and honing my photography skills.  Without trying too hard I’ve been able to photograph the following birds just since February at Hartlen Point in the middle of the day so imagine if I get up early?

• Glossy Ibis (just an ID shot for ebird)
• Lark Sparrow (just an ID shot for ebird)
• Eurasian kestrel
• Scarlet Tanager
• Orchard Oriole

A very talented Halifax songwriter I know, Erin Costelo, actually has a song called “The Birds That Wake The Day”.  Everyone seems to know except me that the birds are most active in the morning.  And my morning 2 hour coffee ritual simply is not conducive to my new bird watching hobby.   Well I’m not ready to kick coffee yet, but I have postponed coffee until after birdwatching on a few occasions and been rewarded each and every time.  Yeah there’s something to this.

Anyway, I might mention that my learning curve is steep but I’m climbing fast as I’m quite addicted to birding much to the chagrin of friends who don’t quite share my passion for talking about feathered creatures.  I’ve also had my fair share of birding bloopers in the past few months and have photographed a plethora of golf balls, airplanes, and buoys in hopes of a rare sighting and had a good chuckle when I downloaded the photos to my computer.  I’ve also been in hot pursuit of a new bird many times and realized that yet again, I’m tracking a Song Sparrow.  Kind of like when you are a kid at the mall and follow your Mom’s shoes and look up and don’t know who that lady is.  You have to be willing to laugh at yourself I think if you are going to learn anything.

Seriously though, a little assistance is appreciated.  Choosing a book written by a local birder is wise in my opinion.  My go to book is All the Birds of Nova Scotia by Ian McLaren.  I got my copy online at Indigo/Chapters (and because I’m a real bird nerd now I got it signed) and it is a great companion guide to my Peterson’s field guide.   I understand that Robbie Tufts book is also excellent as a guide to our local birds.  These curators of our local birds have much to share regarding migration times, hot spots, weather and wind, etc.  So you can have an idea of what to expect at what time in what area and start making some sense of it all.  And, ticking off your “lifers” too, right?

This brings me to another point, twitching.  This twitching thing really never works out for me.  Remember I stopped to see if I could spot the Caracara in Cape Breton and drove a rusty nail up my foot?  Well I never got better at it.  I stopped at Little Dyke in Glenholme to see the thousands of Semipalmated Pipers at high tide that had been spotted the day before and found 7 Semilamated Plovers instead.  So, you see I can’t even do a big twitch.  I’ve also gone to places where people have had lots of luck and had none at all, and gone to places nobody has had any luck and had lots. Truly I just like to walk and take photos so if I like where I am I can’t see how I can lose.  And so I will go back to birding where I am and being happy with that.

I really can’t afford to take trips that are specifically related to birds anyway, but do have occasion to visit many good places for birding incidentally for my work and so far have birded in Nevada, Maine, Newfoundland, and New Brunswick in my free time during business travel.  So if you wonder how I’m stacking up lifers so quickly, look no further for an answer.  I also found a few good birds on a recent backcountry canoe trip in Kejimkujik that were pretty much incidental finds.

The bulk of my great bird finds will continue to be found right here in Eastern Passage though I reckon.  Fall migration is just ramping up so I hope to see some Warblers close to home which all depends on how many mornings I skip coffee I suppose.  The shorebirds are a little easier thankfully as they are more according to the tide so today lifer 175 appeared on the little beach down the road from me.  The Sanderlings are new to me and just arriving in Nova Scotia on their migration path and there will be many more shorebirds coming throughout the month.

Sometimes when I’m away on business I actually can’t wait to get home now so I can pop down to Hartlen Point to see what is going on.

So, do the Cape Sable Island birders have Hartlen Point envy?

I was lucky enough to find out about this Cape Breton hidden treasure from this website, and was far from disappointed.  Thank you to Allan and Cathy Murrant for this great resource.  To note, the mine is open now so you can’t walk through the mine buildings.  I recommend birding the coast and walking back through 12 and 10 to reach the inner paths and perching birds personally.  It took me a good 4 hours and I didn’t dilly dally much so make this a full day to get the maximum benefit out of the visit.

2 days earlier I visited with a birding friend (Alicia Penney) and we explored some of the inner areas and sighted Wood Ducks in eclipse plumage, Ring Necked Ducks and Lesser Scaup, had a lovely Red Eyed Vireo sighting, and she sighted the Baird’s Sandpiper which I later identified with my new Peterson’s field guide  🙂

We both agreed it was a spot to spend more time at and so I came back alone to bird the coastal path by myself today.

Upon my arrival I was quickly greeted by Harbour Seals (making a guess at the type of seal) who continued to distract and entertain me for the rest of the afternoon.

As I walked a little further down the path the Spotted Sandpipers, Savannah Sparrows, and Tree Swallows all made appearances.  They seem to be the usual suspects, but also the Baird’s Sandpiper was still on the beach.  I always worry for the vagrants and stray migrants as if they are off course they could be in trouble so I do hope he finds his way.

My goal in walking the coastal path was to view the Black Guillemot, Black Legged Kittiwake, and Razorbill colonies.  I saw the first two, but could not see any Razorbills from the lookoff at number 14 so think next time I’m in Cape Breton I will walk from the inner paths and pop out on path 16 to get to 15 where the colony is.  Hopefully this is the best way.  Maybe if I get here in the Fall there will even be Whimbrels about.  A local lady I met on the path told me that the Whimbrels eat the Gooseberries down the shore at Gooseberry cove in Little Lorraine.  This area feels a bit like Newfoundland to me with the wild beauty and seabirds so will be a treat at any time of the year I’m sure.

I will say this about walking in this area, if your feet aren’t wet and you aren’t standing in a huge ant hill taking photographs, you aren’t getting the full experience…LOL

This is such a wild, varied, and scenic habitat for many species.  The entire time I walked the coast a group of 5 Northern Gannets were fishing off in the distance and through the woods trails on the way back there was huge species diversity of moths and butterflies in pretty colours.  Herring Gulls were basking in all the best sunning spots, and Cedar Waxings were whistling and flying all over, and some juvenile songbirds were about for good measure.

It was new to me to see the male Eiders in their juvenile plumage.  And neat to see them swimming with the Black Guillemots to see the difference in size and in their similar colours.

The Guillemots are skillful and adorable fishers and I had a great time watching them fly out of the banks and into the water to swim in the rough surf with their little red feet.  Just about as cute as Puffins if you ask me.

I didn’t get any great photos (and maybe not any photos) of the Black Legged Kittiwakes in flight although I did see the colony and see them flying for the entire coastal walk.  They are an uncommon Gull so interesting to see in good numbers for sure.  They say their wings in adult plumage appear to be dipped in ink as the black is straight across, and they have black feet so if you look closely you can spot them quite easily even though at first glance you will probably just think they are Herring Gulls.

As I approached the lookout point at the Trail Head (more or less) it was a bit surreal as there was a Bald Eagle perched on the point.  As if the Canadian flag were not enough.

I was unable to see the Razorbills this time, but I was delighted to sit on the point surrounded by what I believe were nesting Bank Swallows.

I hope it is not too many months before I can return.  A little piece of heaven is this Morien Bay…

Often I say I hate living in Eastern Passage, but during the part of the summer that Rainbow Haven gets warm enough to swim I LOVE it here. That time has arrived.  And as a new birder, my favorite new thing on a day off is to walk the mud flats birding and then have a dip in the ocean before heading home. Today as I was driving in I could hear Cedar Waxwings and was lucky enough to see one swoop up to “kiss” another one. Parked up by the beach house and walked through the flat paths which are full of Song, Savannah, and Nelson’s Sparrows (my new fixation). The Savannah’s sound like flies buzzing when they fly but I wonder if it’s because they often have flies in their mouths?  If someone can enlighten me on that one I’d love to know.  Either way they sure do catch a lot of insects.

There are lots of juvenile sparrows in the flats too so many protective chipping sparrows flying about the bushes.  They should call it Sparrow Haven perhaps.  I can’t tell the baby sparrows apart maybe next year.

Took a little wander up to the beach and the water was a little too nippy for me today, but I did swim after birding on Monday.   So headed out and stopped to check out the Short Billed Dowitchers, who are new to me.  There are lots of them flying around the Salt Marsh area and landing in the little pool by the causeway.   It’s neat because today there were Dowitchers, Yellow Legs, and Willets all hanging together.  Well it is a bird preserve after all.

A little further down toward the cottages there was a group of Willets causing quite a commotion flying into the marsh and with them landed a Bittern right next to the area where the Willet chicks are now.   The Bitterns do eat small mammals and frogs so I wouldn’t put it past them to grab a chick but these ones are getting pretty big and the adult willets were ferociously dive bombing the Bittern.  I left before things got ugly but happy to snap a new lifer.

Any day of the year you head to Rainbow Haven you will see something cool in the bird world, but if you can swim too I can’t imagine a better place in the world to be.