Atlantic Provinces 22 Dec (fide Billy Digout),and an imm. near Yarmouth 19-28 Jan(MN). Brier Island contin- uesto holdthe lion's share of winteringTurkey Vulturein NovaScotia, with a peakof 20 there 17 Dec (ELM). Singleswere notably far e. at Ingonish, 23 Dec (James & Kathryn Bridgeland)and New Haven 5 Jan (Angus MacLean),both C.B.I.
WATERFOWL THROUGH RAPTORS A single Greater White-frontedGoose was foundnear Waterville, Kings, NS 7 Dec (BMy, JudyTuffs). Peak counts of Gadwallwere 50 at South Rustico,PEI 13 lan (Eric Marcurn) and 24 at Barrington,NS 6 Feb (PaulGould). Ten AmericanWigeon throughout the period at Saint John, NB made a record count for the province(v. o.). At least7 Green-wingedTeal toughedit out until25 Jan(Laurent Jackman, et al.) at SPM. A drake Canvasbackwas at N. Sydney,NS 21 Feb+ (DMq, SusannMyers), a hen at Yarmouth,NS 9-23 Feb (BMy, Richard Stern,et al.), and anotherhen at Daniel'sHead, C.S.1.9-17Feb (MN). Theonly Redhead report was of one at Long Pond,PEI 8 Dec (David Seelet).An amazing45 Ring-neckedDucks on the usually-frozenHammond R., NB 30 Dec wasan unprecedentedwinter number at one Brian Dalzell Abbreviations: Avalon (Avalon Peninsula, site (DSC). A "small" flock of 12 Tufted Ducks FundyBird Observatory Newfoundland);C.B.I. (Cape Breton Island, presentthroughout at Quidi Vidi L., St. Johns 62 Bancroft Point Road Nova Scotia);C.S.I. (CapeSable Island, Nova (TBO) wasa newprovindal high. A highcount GrandManan, New BrunswickESG 3C9 Scotia); H. R. M. (Halifax Regional of 4254Greater Scaup on thePEI N.E C.B.C.15 ([email protected]) Municipality);G.M.I. (Grand Manan Island, Dec was indicativeof the open conditions NewBrunswick); SPM (St.Pierre and Miquelon there, while 5184 were on the Pictou Harbour, interwas a generallytimid affair in the Islands,France); PEI (PrinceEdward Island). NS C.B.C. A pure flock of about 75 Lesser southernreaches of the expansiveAtlantic Scaup in Halifax Harbour in late Feb was region but not soin Labrador,northern New GANNETTHROUGH VULTURES notable(FLL). At least13 King Eiderswere Brunswick, and the Great Northern Peninsula NorthernGannet continues to lingerlonger in pickedout of flockof 11,000Common Eiders of Newfoundland, where it was colder than winter,with singlesat bothMiquelon (RE) and at CapeRace, NF 16Feb (BM). Twoimm. male normal. Temperaturesdipped as low as -45 Cape St. Marys, NF 15 Dec (JohnWells). A Kingsat Orby Head, PEI 13 Jan(EMA et al.) degreesC in westernLabrador, though snowfall goodcount of 225was made off EastPoint, PEI providedone of veryfew winter reports from thereby the end of the periodwas only about 14Dec (EVL). For the firsttime, they remained that province.Mid-Feb surveys for Harlequin half of the long-termwinter average (300 cm). at the mouthof the Bayof Fundyall winter, Duckfound about 200 at themouth of the Bay When oneconsiders that this Regionstretches with 45 in Seal Cove Sound, G.M.I. 29 Jan of Fundyin New Brunswick(fide VDG), and some1920 km from CapeChidley in the north (VDG). An abundanceof smallherring was the about 600 in Nova Scotia,mostly along the to Cape Sable in the south, such extremes attraction:a 30-km-long"doud" of gannets easternshore e. of Halifax (Andrew Boyne, shouldnot be unexpected. A good indication of estimatedat 20,000+ birdswas engagedin a C.W.S.).There were 139 on the Cape St. Marys, this sharpclimactic difference between north herringfeeding frenzy between C.S.I. and Seal NF C.B.C.,up fromonly 20 in 1990,a welcome and southwas the numberof speciesdetected Island, NS in the 2nd week of Dec (MN). development]Best count of Long-tailedDucks in two adioiningprovinces: Nova Scotia had a Double-crested Cormorants continue to went to Prince Edward Island, with 3000 off record209 speciesfor the period(BMy), while increasealong the Atlantic coast, with 52 found East Point 14 Dec (EVL). Bestcount of Hooded New Brunswick also raised the bar with 167 on Nova Scotia C.B.C.s. Great Cormorants are Merganserwas 75 at Lunenburg,NS 2 Jan species(SIT). Extensiveice did not formin the thoughtto be reboundingin theFrench Islands (C.B.C.).A RuddyDuck at SaintJohn, NB 27 Gulf of St.Lawrence until earlyJanuary, result- (RE), where 200+ were found on the two local Janwas apparently a firstwinter record for the ing in a generallyunhurried exodus of water- C.B.C.s. province(KMI). Three were at Dartmouth, birds.In keepingwith recentmild winters, An American Bittern at Truro, NS on 26 Jan H.R.M. (BMy) 15Dec. manyspecies of half-hardylingers continue to wasa goodfind (JeffOgden). A CattleEgret The annual raptor count in e. Kings,NS setnew endurancerecords, especially in Nova wasat Aylesford,Annapolis, NS until 11 Dec turned up 333 Bald Eagles9 Feb (67% ads.; Scotia and the Avalon Peninsula. (StephenHawboldt). Two Black Vultures were 33% imms.). This is a bit below numbers from found in Nova Scotia, one at L'Ardoise,C.B.I. the lastfew years (fide Jim Wolford).
148 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS Atlantic Provinces
Good numbers of Northern Harriers were numbers of American Woodcocks are now found in early winter in s. New Brunswick, reportedannually in sw.Nova Scotia, mostly in Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia.Broad- Shelburne,and there is little doubt that some wingedHawks are nowalmost annual in Nova successfullyoverwinter. A flockof 200 unidenti- Scotia,with six reportsfor the winter period. fied phalaropeswere reported at Old Proprietor Birds were found at Tantallon, H.R.M. 2 Dec Shoal,G.M.I. 7 Feb (VDG); Red Phalaropes (Fulton Lavender);Wallbrook, Kings 15 Dec wouldbe morelikely, but eventhese would be (George & Margaret Alliston); Belleville, almostunprecedented in the areain midwinter. Yarmouth23 Dec(PG); Argyle, Yarmouth 11 Jan (MN); Glace Bay, C.B.I. 24-29 Dec (Cathy JAEGERS THROUGH ALCIDS Murrant); and Dartmouth, H.R.M. 13 Jan Several Great Skuas were noted at the mouth of (TerryPacquet). The speciesis quiterare after the Bayof Fundyoff BrierIsland, NS in Dec,as earlyNov in North America,and photographic well as "large numbers" of Pomarine and documentationof any of thesereports would ParasiticJaegers (CAH). A record430 Black- be most desirable. An imm. Red-tailed Hawk headed Gulls were found on Nova Scotia delightedobservers at St.John's 5-7 Jan,where C.B.C.s.The ad. Thayer'sGull at the Halifax-- rare (TBO). A total of 94 wasfound during a RichmondPier returnedfor a 3rd winter,pres- 2ndraptor count in e. Kings,NS 16Feb. One or ent 30 Dec-26 Jan (BMy el al.). Anotherwas 2 GoldenEagles were present at ShepodyBay, reportedduring count week on the EastPt., PEI Westmoreland-Albert,NB, the Region'sonly C.B.C. (14 Dec, EVL). A major movementof consistentwintering area (DSC et al.). Ivory Gulls took place past L'Anse-aux- Meadows,NF in earlyJan, with 50+/daynoted The nameI_'Anse-aux-Meadows, the site of Leifur PTARMIGAN THROUGH SHOREBIRDS (BM). The onlyreport outside of Newfoundland Eirikss6n's"Vinland" settlement, is synonymousin Willow Ptarmiganwere in shortsupply in w. wasan ad.feeding on a sealcarcass at Dominion birders'minds with European Golden-Plover (and Labradorthis winter, their reportednumbers Beach,C.B.I. 10-13Feb (v. o.). Surprisingly,one perhapstoo therefore with Mactavish's name!), but exceededeven by thoseof RockPtarmigan. At in St. Pierreharbor 26 Jan--7 Febwas only the it offersextraordinary winter birding for the hardy least 10 of the latter were presentin Feb at 3rd ever for St. Pierre and Miquelon,and the as well. ThisIvory Gull was part of a strongflight Smokey Mt., Labrador City (Bernard firstwell-documented bird there.By and large, of the specieshere in earlyJanuary 2002, when Jolicoeur).Gray Partridge persists in theRegion there were no large flightsof alcidsobserved as manyas 50 per daywere seen. Photographby mainly on agriculturalPrince Edward Island, nearshore in the Regionthis winter. Bruce Mactavish. where 56 were found on the Hillsborough C.B.C.29 Dec.A SandhillCrane that appeared DOVES THROUGH GNATCATCHER at St.Anthony, NF in earlyDec was still present A White-wingedDove arrivedat a feederin 18 Jan,surviving on handoutsfrom localresi- Alma,NB 1 Dec (DoreenRossiter) and stayed dents (fide BM). Numbers of overwintering about a week. Mourning Dovescontinue to shorebirdshave "increased noticeably" over the "pushthe envelope;' with at least20 attempting pastfive years in Nova Scotia,no doubtinflu- to winter at a LabradorCity feeder;only 6 encedby the warm weather(SF). Surprising Thealcid event of the winter was a rerumnedby the end of the period (Cheryl was a lone SemipalmatedPlover at Pinkneys ]'•tragic one,precipitated by thedelib- Davis).Snowy Owls staged a goodflight into Pt., Yarmouth6-11 Jan (Paul Gould et al.); eratepractice of offdumping off thec9ast of the Region,the best showingsince the late anotherwas near the villageof Miquelon5-16 NovaScotia by shipsunknown. First reports 1980s.At CapeRace, NF, 20 werefound 22 Dec Dec(RE). A LesserYellowlegs was at C.S.I.until of seabirdoiling came 7 Febfrom sw.Nova (BM et al.). A fair number of Northern Hawk 15 Dec (C. B.C. data), and a WesternWillet Scotiaand by 22 Feb extendedalong the Owls wasnoted in Newfoundland, with virtual- (subspeciesinornatus) was present throughout entirecoast to C.B.I. Most reportsinvolved ly noneelsewhere. In comparisonto lastwinter, the periodat C.S.I. (MN, JohnnyNickerson et Thick-billedMurres, but significantnum- therewere few reportsof NorthernSaw-whet al.). Eightunidentified dowitchers were also at bers of Dovekieswere reported as well. Owl mortality inducedby deep snow cover. C.S.I. 20-28 Feb (MN). Somepeak counts of Samplesof oil taken from two deadbirds One Red-belliedWoodpecker was reported shorebirds at C.S.I. were: 75 Black-bellied revealedtwo verydifferent types, according from eachprovince, a definitereversal of the Plover,25 RuddyTurnstone, 95 RedKnot, 500 to Tony Lock of the CanadianWildlife goodnumbers of previouswinters. A Red-bel- Sanderling,and 46 Dunlin. Two small,enig- Service."One was heavyfuel off and the lied Woodpeckerat St. Phillips,NF (Avalon) matic sandpipersthere 20 Feb (MN) were othera bilgeoff mixture.This meansmore from late Oct 2001 throughat leastearly Apr describedas Semipalmated/Western.There 2002 was a long overdue first for werestill 5 White-rumpedSandpipers at Long thanoff southernone ship Nova was Scotiaengaged in inearlyoff February.dumping Newfoundland (m. ob.). The big newsin New Beach,near Cape Race,NF 5 Dec (BM, Paul In my 30 yearswith the WildlifeService I Brunswickin Dec was the discoveryof an Linegar).One was at GrandBarachois, SPM 15 have never seen so much bird mortality astounding4Ash-throated Flycatchers, dou61e Dec (RE, DanielleLebollocq) was well seenat from ship-sourceoff dumping. The number the previousprovincial total! Birds were found doserange, both on theground and in flight.At of birdskilled will be certainlysome thou- at Westfield,Kings, NB 2 Dec (David Smith); least4 overwinteredat C.S.I. (MN et al.), where sands of birds: Alma 2 Dec (SIT et al.); Sackville20-22 Dec theyare becoming somewhat regular (a unique (scan Blaney);and Lower Jemseg21-22 Dec situationin North America,perhaps). Small (Don Gibson,Peter Pearce). Nova Scotia got its
VOLUME 56 (2oo2), NUMBER 2 149 first,with one at VoglersCove, Lunenburg 1-7 thonsands of American Robins invaded Avalon continuesto increasein winter in the Region, Dec (Andy Dean, Lelia Dean; full detailsin in Janto feedon the heavycrop of Mountain mostlyalong the Atlanticcoast of NovaScotia BirdersJournal). A WesternKingbird lingered Ash berries,the one areain the Regionwhere andthe Avalon, but small numbers (up to 3) are until at least9 Dec at Lockeport,NS (Donna they were not found during the exceptional now being regularlyencountered in s. New Crosby).A Scissor-tailedFlycatcher was found winterof 2000-2001.Reports of VariedThrush Brunswick and n. Nova Scotia. The bird of the at Waterside,NB 1 Dec(DSC) and sporadically came from Nova Scotia,with one each at Lower seasonwas definitely the Black-backed Wagtail for severaldays thereafter. A White-eyedVireo West Pubnico23 Dec--20 Feb (Raymond foundat St. Pierre,SPM 21-26Jan (ph. Bruno at PointLance, Avalon 15 Dec wasthe latestby d'Entrementet al.) andLower Harmony 16-26 Letournelet al.), a Regionalfirst with little a month(BM, Ian Jones).A Red-eyedVireo was Jan(Cindy Spicer et al.), and Newfoundland's precedentfor the Atlanticseaboard at thissea- seen in Halifax 3 Dec (IM). Carolina Wren 3rdwas at ConceptionBay South 6 Feb(fide J. son(David Sibley noted one in Brooklyn,New made a goodfall rush into the Region,with Pratt).A Swainson'sThrush at C.S.I. 15 Dec Yorkin December1992). An imageof thisbird birdspushing as far e. as Halifax-Dartmouth would be a first for a Nova Scotia C.B.C. Four is postedat
Severalspecies ofwarbler setnew endurance records, mostly inNova Scotia and the Avalon (Table 1,below). Some ofthese, such asthe Blue- •winged, Blackpoll,and Black-throated Green Warblers, would be consideredextraordinary anywhere in the northeasternand mid-Atlantic United Statesat thesedates. In one concentratedarea of Point PleasantPark, Halifax, in the first half of December,there were:Yellow-throated Warbler (perhaps2 birds),an Audubon'sWarbler, a NashvilleWarbler, 4+ Orange-crownedWarblers, 2+ PineWarblers, a Yellow-breastedChat, a Blackpoll Warbler,and a WesternPalm Warbler. It shouldbe kept in mindthat some of thesebirds depended on feedersfor survival,such as a •Vllson'sWarbler at Halifaxthat came for itsdaily allotment of grapejelly and mealworms. At least20 Yellow-breasted Chats were found in NovaScotia.
Species Location Date(s) Observer(s) Blue-wingedWarbler PortugueseCove, NS 2-4 December DavidCurrie, Azor Vienneau Blue-wingedWarbler EasternPassage, NS 15 December--1January Tim Allison,Terry Paquet MagnoliaWarbler SchoonerPond, C.B.I. 3 December DaveMcC, orquodale, Richard Knapton Black-throatedBlue Warbler Antigonish,NS 1-21December fideRandy Lauff Black-throatedGreen Warbler St.John's, NF 9-27 December PaulLinegar et al. Black-throatedGreen Warbler C.S.L,NS 20 January JohnnyNickerson Townsend'sWarbler St.John's, NF 8-23December BruceMactavish, Paul Linegar PineWarbler Carbonear,NF throughoutperiod fideBruce Mactavish Prairie Warbler SableIsland, NS 2 December Zoe Lucas Yellow-throated Warbler Tracadie-Sheila, NB 1-30 December Robert Doiron Yellow-throatedWarbler Halifax,NS 3-26December AndyHorn, m. ob.,ph. Yellow-throatedWarbler Carbonear,NF earlyDecember--23 January PaulLinegar et al. Yellow-throatedWarbler St.John's, NF 7 January--1February m. ob. BlackpollWarbler Halifax,NS 10-16December BlakeMaybank, m. ob.,ph. Black-and-white Warbler Moncton, NB 21 December Jim Edsall Black-and-whiteWarbler St.John's, NF 5 January(3), 19 January(1) BruceMactavish Black-and-whiteWarbler Summerside,PEI 2 January SuzanneEssensa NashvilleWarbler Ferryland,NF 11 January ToddBoland, T. Smith NashvilleWarbler TancookIsland, NS 2 January Eric& Ann Mills Wilson'sWarbler Halifax,NS 1 December+ SuzanneBorkowski, m. ob.,ph. Wilson'sWarbler Florence,C.B.I., NS earlyDecember DaveMcCorquodale Wilson'sWarbler Dartmouth,NS earlyDecember BlakeMaybank Ovenbird Bedford, NS 29 December C.B.C. data Ovenbird St.Pierre, SPM 14January ThierryVogenstahl, Laurent Jackman Yellow-breastedChat SaintJohn, NB 20 January FrankKelly Yellow-breastedChat St.John's, NF 13-20January DaveBrown et al. Yellow-breastedChat St.Pierre, SPM 1 January RitaRuel, Marc D•rible
150 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS Atlantic Provinces
pulledtheir usualdisappearing act, with only Grosbeaks,Red Crossbills,and White-winged Haycock,Andy Horn, Richard Knapton,Ken smallnumbers reported, mostly in NovaScotia. Crossbillscoming to feeders,an increasingly Knowles, E. Vernon Laux, Fulton Lavender, commontrend in justthe past decade. David McCorquodale, Ken McKenna, Ian WARBLERS THROUGH FINCHES McLaren, Kenneth Macintosh, Bruce The amazing"hat-trick" of tanagerscontinued Observers(subregional editors in boldface): Mactavish (BM), Eric Marcurn, Blake to frequentberry bushes at Canso(Town), NS Todd Boland, David S. Christie, Brian Dalzell, Maybank (BMy), Eric Mills, Murray Newell, in earlyDec (RoseAnn McMullenet al.): one Marcel David, Cheryl Davis, Fred Dobson, JohnnieNickerson, John Wells, Jim Wilson. eachof Scarlet,Summer and Western(cf. N. A. Roger Etcheberry, Sylvia Fullerton, Don B. 56:24).Two more WesternTanagers were Gibson, V. Dedreic Grecian (VDG), Carl found, one until late Jan in Halifax (Etta Parker)and an imm. malethat appeared23 Jan in LowerSackville (Peter LeBlanc, m. ob.,ph.). A SummerTanager was found dead near Sydney,NS in earlyJan (Darryl MacAulay,fide Quebec John Macinnis), and another at a feeder in Fredericton,NB waslast seenin late Dec (DG). A Green-tailed Towhee at a Saint John, NB feeder4 Jan+was a firstprovincial record (Jim Wilson, et al.). Clay-coloredSparrows num- QUEBEC •-s• •- bered 3 in Nova Scotia and 2 in Newfoundland. •Easimain _ _ -- A Field Sparrowwas a good find at New Dominion, PEI 17-18 Jan (EM). A Vesper •:• Ha•-•-P•o Sparrowat Renews,NF throughthe period was the first confirmed record for the province (BM, Dave Brown et al.) Five Lark Sparrows were in Nova Scotia and 2 in Newfoundland. Quiterare were single Grasshopper Sparrows at Lunenburg2-6 Jan (JamesHirtle et al.) and ß• -• • Ch•mi • O • M• IS. Renews, NF 29 Dec (BM, Dave Brown). An IpswichSparrow was a goodfind at BiscayBay, Avalon10 Feb(Rudolf Koes, BM). A spectacu- • •lle lar assortmentof Arnrnodrarnussparrows came to light at DanielsHead, C.S.I. in mid-Feb, ' • '•,•e* • •' d AT•NTIC including4 Nelson'sSharp-tailed Sparrows and OCEAN one SaltmarshSharp-tailed Sparrow (first for Nova Scotia), a SeasideSparrow, and a southern Qudbec.One had to travel as far as Henslows Sparrow(MN et al.). It wasinterest- Pierre Bannon UngavaBay to find temperaturesslightly below ing to notethat of 8 White-crownedSparrows 1517 Leprohon normal.At the sametime, precipitationwas foundin NovaScotia, half wereof the w. garn- Montreal,Quebec H4E 1P1 belownormal all alongthe St. LawrenceRiver bellirace. A pluckyDark-eyed Junco survived ([email protected]) but closer to normal or above normal farther the periodat a LabradorCity feeder,but alas north. succumbedin lateApr (fideCD). Samuel Denault Asa resultof the mild weather,many species A Rose-breasted Grosbeak made it to 22 Dec 75 Beauchemin normallyleaving the Region in falllingered very at Buchans,NF feeder (Dianne Burton). An Saint-Basile-le-Grand,Quebec J3N 1J6 lateor in somecases overwintered successfully. IndigoBunting at a Lameque,NB feeder20 Jan ([email protected]) Waterfowlin particularwere much more abun- wasthe latestever for the province,as was one dant than usual in southern Quebec, and at a St. John'sfeeder 26 Dec (JohnPratt). Nice YvesAubry expandingspecies such as the CarolinaWren groupsof EasternMeadowlark included 5 each CanadianWildlife Service and theTufted Titmouse also appeared to ben- at ShepodyMarsh, Albert, NB 11 Jan(BD) and P.O Box 10100 efit from theseconditions. Finally, apart from DanielsHead, C.S.I. 17 Feb(Paul Gould et al.). Sainte-Foy,Quebec G1V 4H5 the redpolls,winter finches were rather scarce. A Bullock's Oriole at Bathurst, NB 24 Dec--20 ([email protected]) Jan (MD et al.) was a first for the province. Abbreviation: C.W.S. (Canadian Wildlife Many BaltimoreOrioles surviveduntil well Normand David Service). into Jan at feedersin Nova Scotia and even s. 11931Lavigne New Brunswick. A Common Chaffinch at a Montreal,Ou•bec H4J lX9 LOONS THROUGH WATERFOWL Halifax feederuntil 13 Jan(FL et al.) brought ([email protected]) g Red-throatedLoon at LesEscoumins 6-10 Jan birders from as far as California and was the 4th establisheda new record late date for theRegion NovaScotia record. As Mactavish put it: "It was ithtemperatures exceeding thenormal by (CA, CG). Onceagain, while none were report- a verygood winter for mostfinch species:' Of 7 to 9 degreesFahrenheit, the winter 2001- ed in thesouthern part of the Region,Common specialnote were the many reportsof Pine 2002 will be remembered as the mildest ever in Loonsappeared in Febat somemore northerly
VOLUME 56 (2OO2), NUMBER 2 151