Nova Scotia, October 3-10, 2006.

Jeannette and I have just returned from a fantastic week of birding in Nova Scotia. It was a most relaxing trip, with little to do but bird and sleep. Although it’s great to be back – we most certainly missed our dog! - I wouldn’t mind still being on vacation! Over the next couple of days, I’ll relive our trip here. I’ll also get some picture up as soon as I can.

Although listing was not a goal of this trip, we did keep a trip list, and totaled a respectable 121 species. Our “best” birds included, in no particular order: Lesser Black-backed Gull, Yellow-breasted Chat, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow and Black-billed Cuckoos, and Prairie Warbler. Highlights for us, however, were probably the quantity of migrant Peregrine Falcons, and the abundance (relatively speaking) of Boreal Chickadees.

The weather was unbeatable – too nice from a birding perspective in fact. Warm days on mostly southerly winds did little to concentrate migrants, but a few more days of birding in a t-shirt was more than welcome! We stayed at many fine B&B’s, which is always a pleasant way to travel (actually, it’s essentially the only option in most of southern Nova Scotia away from Yarmouth we found). I must say however, that I do not need any Mayo for quite some time now.

We focused our attention on the southwestern coast, with emphasis on migrant traps. Our big highlight was a trip out to remote Seal Island. Birding was – of course – our focus of the trip, but we also really enjoyed the bucolic scenery, the lack of crowds, and the unique coastal habitats.

Day 1. Yarmouth through Church Point.

We began the trip shortly after dawn in the parking lot of the Cat Ferry in Bar Harbor on the 3rd, with a number of migrants, mostly sparrows and Yellow-rumped Warblers moving overhead. The ferry ride itself, far too fast for birding, did produce a few treats, including 2 Merlins, a close Pomarine Jaeger – of course, when Jeannette walked away to use the head – and a what appeared to be a very wayward Mourning Dove, about ½ way across. It tried desperately to catch the boat, but it could not – and it never did get close enough for us to confirm the identification – and eventually veered off to the west. A number of Northern Gannets and a wayward Ruby-crowned Kinglet were seen as well.

We arrived in Yarmouth (Nova Scotia that is), and after lunch, began our drive towards Brier Island. Cape Forchu was very productive, despite the stiff northwest winds, including numbers of migrant White-throated Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, and a couple of Golden-crowned Kinglets that were clinging to rocks. A couple of Peregrine Falcons buzzed by. Single Northern Cardinals and Northern Mockingbirds, and two Turkey Vultures, in the Yarmouth Bar area were good sightings for Nova Scotia – these species are still (for now anyway) very local in the Province.

We then worked our way, slowly but surely, up the French Shore, stopping at almost every site mentioned in “Birding Sites of Nova Scotia” by Blake Maybank. This book was indispensable in our travels, as it laid out site after site with excellent directions. An American Golden Plover and over 200 Sanderlings were observed at Port Maitland Provincial Park (only hinting at the volumne of shorebirds that depend on the Bay of Fundy), a Gray Jay was along Rte 1 in Mateghan, and we found a 1st Cycle Lesser Black-backed Gull amid thousands of Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls in the harbor at Mateghan. Our last stop, as the sun was setting, was Ticken Cove at Church Point, adding Ruddy Turnstone and Red-necked Grebe to the day’s list.

Day 2: Brier Island.

Two short ferry trips and a long, dark drive put us in Westport on Brier Island late last night. We awoke to a very light west wind, and a very good dawn flight at Northern Point. 200-300 birds, at least 1/3 Yellow-rumped Warblers were passing overhead, mostly heading due north to Long Island, correcting for their westerly drift overnight. One White-winged Crossbill were among the others in the crowd, and on the ground we noted single Indigo Bunting and Orange-crowned Warbler.

Brier Island is one of THE places in the Province in the fall, so we spent the day birding every nook and cranny on the island. Unfortunately, with the light winds, few birds were grounded on the island, and with so many hawks in the air, landbirds were tough to come by. We did manage to tally 8 species of warbler and 7 species of sparrows however, but the raptors really stole the show.

A developing southerly wind stalled raptors over the island’s southern end, and over Lighthouse Hill, we were treated to quite show by dozens of swirling Sharp-shinned Hawks, a couple of Peregrine Falcons, and many others. Meanwhile, a late day falcon-flight produced 28 American Kestrelsas we walked around the southernmost point of the island, including a dozen on the wires near the Western Point Lighthouse.

Day 3: Brier Island through Pointe d Major.

Heavy rain overnight subsided to light showers after dawn – our only precipitation of the trip, so we ain’t complaining! – but strong winds made birding impossible for the first couple of hours of the day. We wandered aimlessly around the streets of Westport hoping for grounded migrants seeking shelter in gardens, but to no avail. We decided to grab the next ferry, and begin our trek north.

Although the strong northerly winds continued, we had some very productive birding on Long Island. A walk around the village of Freeport (yup, we traveled all this way to go to Freeport and Yarmouth!) produced our first Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrows of the trip, a steady flight of raptors moving north into the wind – especially Sharp-shinned Hawks, Merlins, and American Kestrels that we would continue to see all day, and a real highlight for us: a Sora that flushed out of a path took flight and had to struggle into the wind to return to the grasses, allowing us a really great look at this secretive species.

A walk through the Central Grove Park trail produced the first of many Boreal Chickadees of the trip, and a chance to observe the Bay of Fundy how it is supposed to look and feel – lots of white-caps, large breakers, and cold, howling winds. A fly-by Black-legged Kittiwake was most appropriate. The Balancing Rock Trail, however, put us in the lee of the wind, looking out on St. Mary’s Bay and gawking at the Balancing Rock, a precariously perched column of the geometrically-interesting columnar basalt typical of this peninsula.

As with our first day, we used the birding guide to work our way through the area, from Long Island through Digby Neck, and then back down the French Shore, hitting the few sites that we didn’t get to on Day One. We then headed east to Cape Sable Island.

Stay Tuned for Part II coming tomorrow!