[ValleyNature] pied-billed grebe etc. at St. Croix pond Apr. 29/10

[James W. Wolford]

> Subject: [NatureNS] pied-billed grebe etc. at St. Croix pond Apr.  
> 29/10
>
> [I'm playing "catch-up" with my old notes today -- sorry these are  
> tardy.]
>
> APR. 29, 2010 - I had to take Pat to the Halifax Airport, and on my  
> return trip I got to St. Croix and checked out the large cattail  
> pond behind the baseball/softball field from 11:30 to noon.  I  
> think this was the pond where two people reported a pumping/singing  
> Am. bittern on Apr. 27 & 28.  I could not see or hear a bittern,  
> BUT a noisy pied-billed grebe was calling frequently through the  
> whole time I was there.
>
> This Hants Co. pond is at least partly a beaver pond, and the small  
> dam and larger lodge were both quite obvious.  Also I saw a muskrat  
> swimming.
>
> I saw 3 Canada geese, but I'll bet there was an unseen 4th one,  
> too.  Two geese were just loafing and well apart, and were probably  
> males?  One probable female was visible in the marsh and probably  
> on a nest.
>
> Predictably in the marsh were red-winged blackbirds and c.  
> grackles, and I also saw a n. flicker and an Am. robin.
>
> This pond might be a nice spot if it was not for the noise from the  
> adjacent Highway 101 and twinning construction.
>
> Speaking of highway twinning, when will someone speak up for  
> concerns about further fragmentation of wildlife habitat and other  
> ecological disbenefits?  I feel the same way about all those miles  
> of moose fences that have been built and are being requested along  
> New Brunswick highways.  (As if we don't have enough issues to  
> consider right now!! e.g. biosolids on farmlands, biomass  
> harvesting via clearcutting for power,  coastal issues, sustainable  
> foods, preservation of agricultural lands, culls of coyotes and  
> seals, etc. etc.)
> -------------------
> I checked on the bald eagle nest on the southern edge of Evangeline  
> Campground, on Long Island north of Grand Pre.  Presumably the  
> female was there on the nest tending to something in the cup (tiny  
> hatchlings perhaps?), and perhaps the adult male? was perched in a  
> tree at the paved junction just to the south of the nest.
>
> Cheers from Jim in Wolfville

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