[ValleyNature] Boot Island info', eagle nests, Clairmont Prov. Park, mustard whites, etc.

[James W. Wolford]

> Subject: [NatureNS] Boot Island info', eagle nests, Clairmont Prov.  
> Park, mustard whites, etc.
>
> MAY 1, 2010 - 2 film photos of the occupied bald eagle nest in  
> Evangeline Campground, north Grand Pre (Long Island).  Adult eagle  
> there was tending something in the nest, and I think she? was  
> feeding babies? and perhaps herself, but I couldn't see what the  
> food was.
>
> On Boot Island I could not see any definite bald eagle nest, but  
> there was one adult eagle visible.
>
> Speaking of Boot Island, I just got the Can. Wildlife Service  
> report from their survey of colonially nesting birds there in 2008  
> (survey done May 15/10): there were 243 nests of double-crested  
> cormorants, 52 great blue heron nests, 998 great black-backed gull  
> nests, and only 13 herring gull nests.  CWS has also been surveying  
> erosional loss of the seaward part of the island for a long time,  
> and on 8 transect lines the losses per year vary from 0.7 to 1.3  
> metres per year -- the average is about 1 metre per year.  Hundreds  
> of young spruces are being planted, and this will be continued, but  
> CWS predicts that all sizable trees will be lost before any planted  
> trees will be suitable for nesting.  The report has several nice  
> photos and historical information.  Other birds observed on May  
> 15/10 included 1 merlin, 14 dunlins, 24 purple sandpipers, 1 lesser  
> yellowlegs, an active bald eagle nest on top of a spruce (1  
> nestling present).  Also a lot of evidence of mink was found near  
> the eagle nest, and CWS suspects that mink are responsible for a  
> lot of egg losses in ground nests of gulls.  One gull nest was in a  
> spruce tree.
>
> I checked the bald eagle nest that is obvious southeast of the Eye  
> Road junction with Highway 1 (just east of Wolfville): the female  
> eagle was on the nest rim, and I could see at least one large gray  
> downy eaglet squirming in the nest; also there were two small birds  
> flying from and to the lower parts of the nest -- presumably these  
> were house sparrows? that are nesting? among the branches/twigs  
> that make up the lower part of the nest.
>
> Highway 101 west of Wolfville: at one spot there were 2 road-killed  
> carcasses together: a woodchuck/groundhog and a small raccoon -- I  
> wondered if the raccoon had been scavenging on the woodchuck perhaps?
>
> I checked another known bald eagle nesting location northeast of  
> Berwick and northwest of Waterville.  (The nest was on the former  
> pig farm of Mitch Visser; last year a neighbour of his told me he  
> raises mink now.  A sign in front of the barn near Mitch's home  
> says "Greener Pastures".)  This year the nest that has been used  
> for many years is empty but still present and very large.  I  
> discovered a new and occupied nest about 150 metres east and a bit  
> north of the former nest.  Both nests are in pines.  While I  
> watched, the female? eagle was in incubation or brooding position  
> in the nest.  I took one film photo of the nest.  Mitch Visser  
> lives on a gravel road called "Parker Condon", which is south of  
> Grafton.  The new nesting tree is directly south of his house and  
> very visible from his road.
>
> One more film photo of weird plant formation high in a red oak?  
> tree, on the northwest corner of Blair Road and Black Rock Road, n.  
> of Waterville.  The weird growth is an upward-pointing "witch's  
> broom".  Is this some sort of disease or parasitic plant?
>
> Finally, a chipping sparrow was present and singing very loudly.
>
> I drove west to Clairmont Provincial Park, which is along Hwy. 1  
> 6.3 km. west of Aylesford.  This picnic park is forested (mostly  
> pines) and big enough for nice walks, despite the proximity to two  
> highways.  This is where Nancy Nickerson et al. have seen up to 3  
> gray squirrels in the past, but I didn't see a single squirrel  
> today.  As I reported earlier, shadbush now is conspicuous  
> everywhere by its blooming.  Also japonica bushes are now in bloom  
> in residential yards.  Pussy-toes were flowering in the park, and  
> lowbush blueberry will soon be blooming.
>
> In the park there were lots of whites (butterflies), and several  
> that were checked were all mustard whites.  I also saw a single  
> tiny brown butterfly that I guess must have been an unidentified  
> elfin?  Black flies were abundant (good for the several yellow- 
> rumped warblers) but were not biting -- all males?
>
>  An eastern phoebe was singing loudly, but not seen.
> ------------------------
> Robie Tufts Nature Centre in Wolfville at dusk.  (It's time for the  
> earliest chimney swifts, especially this year with everything  
> early.)  It was a nice Sunset/dusk, with clear sky, warm at 13 C.,  
> and I watched from 8:08 to 8:50 p.m. (Sunset was about 8:16 or  
> so).  No swifts seen.
>
> MAY 3, 2010 - At least one WILLET was on the Wolfville Harbour mud  
> in early afternoon.
>
> Cheers from Jim in Wolfville

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