Trip Leaders: The “Chick car” with Arlene at the wheel, Margaret noting people and bird names, and Carole and Norma Nanni ....... a stellar group to lead the parade!!
Participants: The four previously mentioned ladies as well as Alfred, Nora, Judith K, James, Marshall, Bob and Anne-Marie, Joan, Linda F, Doug and B.J., Christine, Judith B, Alice and John, Judy D, Jim P, John and Kaye, Beryl, Grace and Kirsten, Bev C, Bill K, Stew and Liz S. (30 people)
The day started out with the weather being a bit overcast but this was offset by the positive attitude of todays participants. With a positive mindset the rain was held to a few drops during a stop to admire the trees (as the birds were hiding) and by the afternoon after a nourishing stop at Margarets the sun came out and it was a terrific fall day to view birds.
But the birds did attend the tour at various spots as the bird list shows and a few highlights were: the large group of Sandhill cranes, the Northern harrier and merlin cruising around together for a minute or so, the Pileated woodpecker leading us down the A-line, the dark morph Snow goose at Miramichi Bay, the Tundra swans at Liz Squires (and I know that the mute swan that Stew saw first from that viewpoint was one of the ones we saw from the Miramichi Bay side at that stop
. It had just disappeared around the point before we zeroed in on the Tundras). The snow geese did show up for us both at Miramichi Bay and the Independent Pond and I’m sure we’ll see some nice photos of them along the way. At the Squires the swans on one side and the ducks (mostly Redhead) on the other kept the scopes active and the eyeballs strained!
Considering the number of people and cars it was surprising that we only lost one of the cars and only for an hour. Fortunately they knew their way to Margarets (after a few phone calls) and got to enjoy the sunny afternoon with us as the water birds entertained us. it was with relief that we heard that you were safe at Margarets, Alice, John and Linda
.
It was a great day that started off overcast with a lack of bird activity in the woods but picked up as the day went on and the participants eyes got sharper. The birds on the water seemed to be in the majority today but fun was had by all as we observed, learned and got caught up on news with friends. Our thanks to the “Chicks” for taking the lead today and also to Margaret for her hospitality at lunchtime
.
Happy Birding
Bob and Anne-Marie
The tour included the following locations: (not sure if I’ll get these all correct)
1) The Amphitheatre
2) The Cemetery (not sure of the name)
3) Silver Lake
4) RD 10
5) Concession 3
6) A-line
7) Liz Squires
8) Horseshoe Bay
9) Miramichi Bay
10) independent Pond
Snow Goose (SNGO) 9, 10
Canada Goose (CANG) 4, 9, 10
Mute Swan ( MUSW) 9
Tundra Swan (TUSW) 7
American Widgeon (AMWI) 10
American Black Duck (ABDU) 8, 10
Mallard (MALL) 8, 9, 10
Northern Pintail (NOPI) 10
Green-winged Teal (GWTE) 8, 10
Redhead (REDH) 7
Ring-necked Duck (RNDU) 7
Lesser Scaup (LESC) 10
Long-tailed Duck (LTDU) 9
Bufflehead (BUFF) 7, 10
Common Goldeneye (COGO) 7, 9
Hooded Merganser (HOME) 3
Common Merganser (COME) 3
Red-breasted Merganser (RBME) 3
Wild Turkey (WITU) 5
Horned Grebe (HOGR) 7
Great Blue Heron (GBHE) 1
Turkey Vulture (TUVU) 6
Northern Harrier (NOHA) 6
Coopers Hawk (COHA) 4
Red-tailed Hawk (RTHA) 3
Sandhill Crane (SACR) 4
Greater Yellowlegs (GRYE) 8
Pectoral Sandpiper (PESA) 10
Ring-billed Gull (RBGU) 1, 10
Herring Gull (HERG) 1
Rock Pigeon (ROPI) 4
Mourning Dove (MODO) 4
Belted Kingfisher (BEKI) 1
Pileated Woodpecker (PIWO) 6
Merlin (MERL) 6
Blue Jay (BLJA) 1
American Crow (AMCR) 1, 4
Common Raven (CORA) 2
Black-capped Chickadee (BCCH) 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet (GCKI) 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (RCKI) 2
Hermit Thrush (HETH) 2
American Robin (AMRO) 1
European Starling EUST)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (YRWA) 2
American Tree Sparrow (ATSP) 3
Song Sparrow (SOSP) 10
Lincolns Sparrow (LISP) 1
White-crowned Sparrow (WCSP)
Dark-eyed Junco (DEJU) 1
Red-winged Blackbird (RWBL) 1
Rusty Blackbird (RUBL) 6
American Goldfinch (AMGO) 6
For a total of 53 species