Snowy Owl Sighted

A snowy owl was sighted at Dartmouth point on the beach by our newest community members Julie and Glenn. They also sighted American Goldfinches along the path and Waxwings.

Black-billed Cuckoo

Just an update on this bird. The girls who brought the bird into Laura and I to ID put the bird into a dark box with grass and lots of ventilation and kept it quiet over night. Then they let it go the next day and it flew away unharmed.

Photo's from Laura Titus

photo's by Laura Titus
We showed the bird to June and she took pictures too. Anyway, we think it is a "Black-billed Cuckoo".

Black-billed Cuckoo

Laura Titus from naturens
photo's by Nicole Bear
This afternoon two girls brought a bird into the Mariner Cruises office. They found it laying on the grass in a backyard in the village and assumed it was injured. It has no visible injuries but one eye is rather closed. It also seemed VERY tame, perched on the girl's hand or palm and making virtually no attempt to escape. I did get a picture but only on a film camera. Chris Callaghan suggested it may be a red eyed vireo (via a phone conversation). It is now in a box as Chris suggested and I will see if it can fly after a while. It is about the size of a vireo, a taupe/brown colour with a whitish underside and belly, the grayish legs of a vireo, the same bill, but lacks pattern on the head and has no wing bars. The eyes are red and the tail quite long, with a tad bit of white on the end of the tail feathers. Perhaps this bird is a drab variation with poor quality eye border?? Just curious about its identity b/c I am not that great at ID'ing many birds.
Laura T
Brier Island

Eider ducks and ducklings

On my hike at pond cove i sighted 3 eider duck broods. 14 in one group, 5 slightly larger ones in another and at big pond weee little ones of 8.
5 Turkey Vultures were hanging out on the beach and a great blue heron was stalking the edges of big pond. Very windy and overcast day.

Flowers

Today i took a hike down gull rock road. Many flowers in bloom including these yellow iris and roses white and red.

Eastern Bluebirds

From Eric Mill posted on NatureNS
For afficionados of those lovely birds: after two days of no E. Bluebirds (that's zero), a flock of 6 (four males and two females) was moving along Lighthouse Road before the rain began this morning about 9:30.
Where they come from and where they go, I don't know. Is it even the same group each time? Very frustrating for atlassers.

Shelley Barnaby at http://brierislandwhales.blogspot.comTo view some humpback sightings that have been sighted

Gull Rock

Report from Eric Mills from Nature NS

Atlas square 19GJ09 contains only one dot of land, Gull Rock S of Brier Island. I got out there this morning, thanks to a brief charter from Mariner Cruises.

It's a bleak place - a couple of nesting D-c. Cormorants and lounging Herring and Black-backed Gulls plus male eiders. The big surprise was a group of 25 Kittiwakes on the rocks. All were 2nd-cycle birds, so no evidence of breeding. But it could happen, so another look next year (a bit earlier) is in the cards.

Bird nests

Hello Everyone
What a gorgeous day! I went for a little walk and i noticed the roses were just starting to bloom and you could smell their fragrance mixed with the salt air. Robbie Denton reported a yellow warbler nesting in back of his house on water street. He also had a chance to take a look around whipples point and noted in the raspberry bushes 2 eider duck nests with eggs still in them. Also the Canada geese with 4 Goslings in tow.

On June 6th Eric Mills postings from NatureNS
This afternoon a pair of E. Bluebirds was prospecting along the Lighthouse Road between the Pugh farm and the Woodside Cemetery. Hard to know if they will stay, but they are still a nice addition to that atlas square.

This evening an ad. Pomarine Jaeger was harassing Herring Gulls off Northern Point. Suddenly it broke off, accelerated remarkably, gained altitude, and pitched into a flock of a dozen imm. Kittiwakes flying into the Bay.

Whale Watching trip

Hi Everyone
Yesterday i got a chance to go out whale watching with my husband at the helm on a beautiful flat calm day! Another treat was sighting two minke whales, 100+ Wilson's storm-petrels, greater shearwaters,lots of puffins, 1 northern fulmar, porpoise and a grey seal.
Here are a few picstures from the day. Enjoy!

Eider Ducks and 16 Ducklings

Today i sighted 4 female eider ducks with 16 ducklings near scataway at Northern Light. It looked like a mink was swimming over to investigate but the adults gathered the ducklings quickly and moved farther out.
Also some Common Yellowthroats, Yellow Warbler, Song Sparrows, Dark-eyed Junco's, were moving in and out of the alder bushes along Northern Lights dirt road.

Terns, Halibut

Posted June 9, 2009
Greetings from beautiful Brier Island...

Yesterday while out on his boat, Sean (my other half) came upon a log floating on the sea and perched on it was a mackeral gull and two common terns. I haven't heard the terns yet, so hopefully this means they are arriving now. I love being at Southern Point on a foggy day and hearing the terns over on Peter's Island.

Also a little item, or should I say big item, of interest is the halibut that one of the fishing boats caught while out halibut trawling yesterday. The huge fish weighed in at 300 lbs!!
Posted by Laura Titus on NatureNS

Green Heron Sighting

June 8, 2009
This afternoon there was a Green Heron in Pond Cove, Brier I. - perhaps the one seen along Lighthouse Road last week.
Posted by Eric Mills from NatureNS

Dragon-mouth Orchid

Yesterday went for a hike down western light and looked in the bog to see what was in bloom. I sighted my first arethusa bulbosa- Dragon's-mouth Orchid in bloom along with some pitcher plants.

Bird Sightings

Went for a hike yesterday and sighted some tree Swallows by our bird boxes at western light. I also sighted a pair of Eastern Bluebirds. Hopefully they will decide to nest in one of our boxes also. There has been some eider ducks with their ducklings near peter's island hopefully they will survive the black-backed gulls attacks.

Two Fin Whales and a Minke Whale

Yesterday my husband sighted two fin whales and a minke whale while out whale watching.

Humpback sighting!

My husband who is one of the captains for Brier Island Whale and Seabird Cruises reports their first humpback sighting of the season! It was female called, Platform who was first sighted in 1997. They also sighted a Minke whale. What a great way to spend a beautiful day on the ocean!