With last night’s strong east winds, I would have been out early to seawatch from Dyer Point. However, still catching up from being away, this morning’s birding was limited to an hour in the rain with the dog at Hedgehog Mountain Park. A peppering of the expected October migrants were around, so it was a productive outing before heading in to the store to really be productive.

By the way, there’s still room in my “Making Sense out of Sparrows” Workshop, which begins tonight (the field trip is on Sunday), for Maine Audubon. It’s not too late to join us, call Margi Huber at 207-781-2330 to register.

Nova Scotia, October 3-10, 2006
Trip Report Part II, and Trip List.

Day 4: Seal Island.
This was a truly special experience. Remote Seal Island, 20 miles southwest of Cape Sable Island is not easy to get to. Basically, you have to either know one of the families that own a cabin - mostly fisherman – or join some birders who are going out on an organized trip. Luckily, Jeannette and I scored and invite to join a group of friends on their annual fall excursion to the island. Some of the province’s top birders – including the author of the bird-finding guide we have been relying on - were among the group (a total of 12 folks, including us Yanks), providing us a wealth of local knowledge. A local fishing boat out of Cape Sable Island was chartered, and most of us stayed in the fisherman’s bunkhouse on the island. All supplies, including drinking water had to be carried on, electricity was only available for a few hours each night when the generator was turned on, and the “facilities” were an outhouse. Nothing to do but bird! And chat - as Jeannette and I enjoyed the many conversations with the folks on the trip, heck, we even enjoyed MOST of Don’s jokes and puns!

We hit the ground running, and birded the island’s southern end. Three American Coots in the pond, a Brown Thrasher, and a late Baltimore Oriole were highlights. Later, Jeannette and I found a Yellow-billed Cuckoo while out on a sunset stroll. 70 species were seen today on the island; Jeannette and I tallied 58.

Another major surprise was finding that the head bander of the Atlantic Bird Observatory’s banding operation this fall was someone Jeannette and I had worked with in Whitefish Point, Michigan! We know Pete had worked here before, but we had no idea that we would find him out there. Small world, ey?

Day 5: Seal Island.
Very light northeasterly winds overnight did not produce many new arrivals, but Jeannette and I were enjoying ourselves far too much to be complaining. Before most of the group had amassed for the morning’s hike, we had found a Prairie Warbler and a Black-billed Cuckoo – good thing that the Cuckoo stuck around for others to see, we wouldn’t want to develop a reputation! I was surprised to learn that Black-bills are the rare of the two cuckoos species here. The walk around the island’s southern end produced many fewer birds than yesterday – many birds had left overnight, apparently – but we enjoyed multiple Ipswich Savannah Sparrows (the author of the recent article on this subspecies in Birding Magazine was one of the members of this group, so their was a wealth of information to call on), and a handful of other species not seen the day before.

After lunch, we got our first look at the island’s northern half, with the highlights of this stroll being two Rusty Blackbirds.

Day 6: Seal Island.
Light and variable winds overnight did not bode well for the morning, but there were definitely some new arrivals, especially “Yellow” Palm Warblers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and American Goldfinches, all more abundant than yesterday. 6 White-winged Crossbills were a treat. The walk around the southern half of the island was suprisingly slow – did all of the birds head to the island’s northern end? An Eastern Bluebird that was first found yesterday afternoon was seen by all; a good bird for the island.

Unfortunately, after lunch it was time for Jeannette and I to head back. Despite the relatively slow birding – although we were never bored of looking at numerous Boreal Chickadees, for example – we really loved this place, and greatly thank everyone for having us out there. We really, really loved the island, and do hope to get back. We found the habitat, and the size of the village, fascinating – oh, yeah, and the amount of sheep!

The rest of the group was staying for a week, but we elected to sample other locations in our far-too-short-of-a trip. We boarded Charles’s boat, and headed back to Clark’s Harbour on Cape Sable Island, enjoying a few fishing stories and learning about life on Seal Island. Charles and I also had a good discussion on fisheries (mis)management and on lobster.

Before dinner, Jeannette and I took a short walk on the Barrington Bay Trail, just north of the causeway to Cape Sable Island. Although receiving only one “star” in Blake’s book – I’ll have to talk to him about that! – this was one of the birdiest locations of our visit! 75-100 Yellow-rumped Warblers were joined by a Bay-breasted Warbler and a Yellow-breasted Chat. A smattering of sparrows, resident species, and a large flock of European Starlings that contained about 20 Common Grackles, kept us busy until the hunger sent us across the street to the restaurant.

Day 7:
We started the day, at dawn, on the Barrington Bay Trail, as Jeannette had only a butt-view of the Chat last night. Plus, with the volume of bird life around, we thought this spot deserved some more attention. 100+ Yellow-rumped Warblers, 50+ Song Sparrows, 20+ American Goldfinch, the Grackle flock, and much more was to be found. No Chat, but we did have a female and immature male Northern Cardinal – very good birds for the area, we presume.

We eventually crossed the causeway to Cape Sable Island – one of the other “must-see” birding sites in the Province. However, once again, the weather was just too nice! It takes westerly, especially northwesterly, breezes to concentrate birds here, but once again we were out and about in a t-shirt, enjoying plentiful sun and warm temperatures – no complaints here! Landbirding was slow, but a diversity of shorebirds, including 6 American Golden Plovers at The Hawk, 3 Hudsonian Godwits and 100+ Black-bellied Plovers at The Guzzle, 250+ Sanderlings and 2 White-rumped Sandpipers, along with another Golden-Plover at Daniels’ Head.

Day 8:
Unfortunately, it was time to head home. After spending another night in Barrington, we began our mosey west towards Yarmouth, beginning the day’s birding at Pubnico Point. This location was of interest to us for 2 reasons: 1) it’s the end of a peninsula that can concentrate migrants, and 2) it’s the site of a large wind power farm, which I was curious to see and hear.

Plenty of Yellow-rumped Warblers and Song Sparrows, along with a smattering of other common migrants were about. Once again, we followed the birding guide along the shoreline, hitting a number of sites between the Pubnicos and Yarmouth. Melbourne Lake produced three tardy Short-billed Dowitchers while Chebogue Harbor produced two very late young Common Terns.

Despite a very stiff north wind, we really liked our walk at Chebogue Point – the pastures on the rolling hills overlooking salt marsh and rocky beaches were very aesthetically pleasing – and the birding wasn’t bad either: more Ipswich Savannah Sparrows, our only Red-winged Blackbirds off the trip (16), and a Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow in a tree were some of the more noteworthy sightings. And, a couple more Ring-necked Pheasants, which we were surprised to find were so numerous in the southern portion of the province (and yet so rare in Maine).

But, by late afternoon it ended where it all began – back on the Cat Ferry, leaving Yarmouth (but with more Northern Gannets and two Pomarine Jaegers – neither while either of us were in the head).

Of course it is great to be back home, with Sasha, but frankly, I’d rather still be on vacation. We really had a great trip to Nova Scotia, and we thank our friends that gave us many good suggestions - from birding to lodging to beer. We also thank Blake, Ian, Eric, Ann, Joan, Bernice, Hanz, Garry, Ken, and Don for giving us the opportunity to join them on Seal, a truly memorable highlight of a wonderful trip!

OK, enough of the reminiscing and pleasantries – here’s the trip list, with annotations for more noteworthy species (122 species after reviewing my notes).
Canada Goose
American Wigeon
American Black Duck
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Common Eider
Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Black Scoter
Red-breasted Merganser
Ring-necked Pheasant (suprisingly – to us – common)
Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
Pied-billed Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Northern Gannet
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture (2 Yarmouth Bar, 10/3; 3 Brier Island, 10/4; 2 Long Island, 10/5; 1 Chebogue Harbor, 10/10)
Osprey
Bald Eagle (1 Brier Island, 10/4)
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon (lots of great looks at lots of places)
Sora (1: Freeport, Long Island, 10/5)
American Coot (3: Seal Island, 10/6-7)
Black-bellied Plover
American Golden-Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Spotted Sandpiper
Hudsonian Godwit (3: The Guzzle, Cape Sable Island, 10/9)
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
White-rumped Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Dunlin
Short-billed Dowitcher (3 molting juveniles: Chebogue Harbor from end of William Allen Road in Melbourne, 10/10).
Wilson’s Snipe
Phalarope sp. (small flocks from the Cat Ferry both to and from Yarmouth)
Pomarine Jaeger (1 on ferry to Yarmouth, 2 on ferry to Bar Harbor, all in Canada waters).
Laughing Gull (1 from Cat Ferry in Canada waters, 10/3)
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL (1st cycle, Mateghan Harbour, 10/3)
COMMON TERN (2 1st cycle, Chebogue Harbor from end of William Allen Road in Melbourne, 10/10)>
Black Guillemot
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO (1, Seal Island, 10/7)
YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO (1, Seal Island, 10/6).
Belted Kingfisher
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue-headed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Gray Jay
Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Horned Lark
Black-capped Chickadee
Boreal Chickadee (at most locations; nice to not have to “work” for this bird like here in Maine!)
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Winter Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet (likely the second most abundant passerine on the trip)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird (Main Shore Road, Sanford, 10/3).
Brown Thrasher (1: Seal Island, 10/6)
European Starling
American Pipit
Cedar Waxwing
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER (1: Northern Point, Brier Island, 10/4)
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler (likely most abundant passerine of the trip).
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
PRAIRIE WARBLER (1: Seal Island, 10/7)
Palm Warbler (both flavors
Bay-breasted Warbler (1: Barrington Bay Trail, 10/8)
Blackpoll Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT (1: Barrington Bay Trail, 10/8)
Chipping Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow (lots of “regular,” smattering of “Ipswich”)
Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow (ssp. subvirgatus)
Fox Sparrow (1: The Hawk, Cape Sable Island, 10/9)
Song Sparrow
Lincoln’s Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Lapland Longspur (1: Seal Island, 10/6; 3: Seal Island, 10/7; 1+ Seal Island, 10/8).
Northern Cardinal (1, Yarmouth Bar area, 10/3; 2 – one female and one immature male, Barrington Bay Trail, 10/9).
Indigo Bunting (1: Northern Point, Brier Island, 10/4; 1 Seal Island 10/6).
Red-winged Blackbird (16, Chebogue Point, 10/10)
Common Grackle (20+ Barrington Bay Trail, 10/9-10)
Baltimore Oriole (1, Seal Island, 10/6)
Purple Finch
White-winged Crossbill (1 Northern Point, Brier Island, 10/4; 6 Seal Island, 10/8)
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow (only a few in Digby on 10/5!).