Pubnico Pelagic 2014

There are many species of bird that are rarely seen from land. The best way to see these seabirds up close is by going on a pelagic bird cruise. My first trip was on August 25, 2012 where we traveled 50 km south of Pubnico to the Southeast Bank on a lobster boat called the Mercedes Elizabeth. Once we reached a point where there was enough bird life around we started chumming. Chumming is the practice of luring birds to a ship by throwing fish parts and liquids into the water. You can view the Nova Scotia Rare Bird Alert posting here. I had also created a YouTube Video for the trip.

I've been anticipating this year's pelagic for quite some time. Ronnie d'Entremont organized the trip and recruited Rodney d'Entremont to command the Captain Derek, a 55 foot long lobster boat belonging to my cousin Roddy d'Eon.

The following is a list of the participants:

Ronnie d'Entremont Sharron Marlor Alix d'Entremont Paul Gould Raymond d'Entremont Ted d'Eon Gisele d'Entremont Judy O'Brien Bruce Stevens Richard Stern Kevin Lantz	David Currie Eric Mills Graham Williams Jane Alexander Larry Neily Fulton Lavender Keith Lowe Richard Stern Lou-Anne Bidal Ken McKenna

Most of the group met up at Dave Currie's trailer at Dennis Point Wharf the night before the trip. It is always great to chat with people that I usually only interact with online through the Nova Scotia Rare Bird Alert (NS-RBA) or Nova Scotia Bird Society Facebook page. Below is a photo of me holding Bruce Steven's 500 mm prime lens on a Canon Body and a homemade boot complete with both autofocus and shutter triggers (photo by Ronnie d'Entremont).

Me with Bruce's camera setup - photo by Ronnie d'Entremont

My father (Arthur d'Entremont) and uncle (Ellis d'Entremont) both fish herring on the Lady Melissa. They had been fishing around German Bank lately and had reported hundreds of Great Shearwater in the area. The warm southern waters were too far from shore for a day trip so it was decided to head for German Bank.

The Captain Derek left the northern most wharf at Dennis Point in Pubnico at 5:30 am on Saturday, August 16. The skies were mostly clear, there was no fog and the winds were light. On our way offshore we navigated past Round Island and observed a large number of Black Guillemots surrounding the island. We also spotted a few Great Cormorants flying by. Soon enough we were near German Bank and had observed few dozen Great Shearwater. At 8:06 am, a small and quick-flapping shearwater approached the boat from the north. I focused my binoculars onto the bird just as someone yelled out "Manx Shearwater!". This bird was a lifer for me and many others on the boat. The Manx Shearwater nests mainly on cliffs around Ireland and Great Britain and breeding has been confirmed sparsely on the Atlantic coast of North America. Below is a photo of my lifer caught by Ronnie d'Entremont.

Manx Shearwater - Photo by Ronnie d'Entremont

Northern Gannet at German Bank - August 16, 2014 - Photo by Alix d'Entremont.

We started throwing out herring pieces and by 8:45 am we had a small group of Great Shearwaters following our boat. These shearwaters were soon joined by a nice adult Northern Gannet. At this point the variably cloudy skies were fully cloudy making for very softly lit photos. Below is a photo of Dave Currie tossing herring overboard when the clouds had moved on.

David Currie throwing herring - Photo by Ronnie d'Entremont

Groups of Atlantic Puffins passed the boat along with flocks of Least Sandpipers, we observed a moth and a few pods of Harbour Porpoises. The next interesting sighting was a juvenile Black-legged Kittiwake.

Juvenile Black-legged Kittiwake at German Bank - August 16, 2014 - Photo by Alix d'Entremont.

A few Sooty Shearwaters were flying around but never approached the boat as often as did the Great Shearwaters. We got to see the diving abilities of the Sooty Shearwater. It would land among the Great Shearwaters and then disappear under the water for some time and appear again in a different location. The best shot that I was able to get of a Sooty was the one below of an individual taking flight.

Sooty Shearwater at German Bank - August 16, 2014 - Photo by Alix d'Entremont.

The Great Shearwaters allowed much better photography and were at some point a mere 10 feet from us. Their scaly upperpart plumage is very nice at close range.

Great Shearwater at German Bank - August 16, 2014 - Photo by Alix d'Entremont.

Great Shearwater at German Bank - August 16, 2014 - Photo by Alix d'Entremont.

We were very pleased to find both Red and Red-necked Phalaropes and both regular Storm-Petrels. Nearby Bon Portage Island (a.k.a. Outer Island) hosts a colony of up to 50,000 pairs of Leach's Storm-Petrel. The Wilson's Storm-Petrel is a southern bird that spends its winters (our summer) in the Northern Hemisphere.

Wilson's Storm-Petrel at German Bank - August 16, 2014 - Photo by Alix d'Entremont.

The highlight of any pelagic trip out of eastern North America is the sighting of a Skua. The most likely Skuas offshore in Nova Scotia are the Great Skua and the South Polar Skua. Binoculars and cameras were quickly brought up to the eyes when Fulton Lavender called out "Skua!". This bruiser of a bird gave us spectacular views and almost passed right over our heads. This bird was identified as the European nesting Great Skua.

Great Skua at German Bank - August 16, 2014 - Photo by Alix d'Entremont.

My favourite experience of the entire trip was when a Northern Fulmar was very close to the stern of the boat allowing me to get some close up photos. I hung off the stern to get as low as I could so that I was closer to the water for a better point of view. During the 2012 trip I was in the ship's wheelhouse when a fulmar landed near to the boat so I was very happy that I hadn't missed this opportunity.

Northern Fulmar at German Bank - August 16, 2014 - Photo by Alix d'Entremont.

Paul Gould and me looking at my photos - Photo by Ronnie d'Entremont

Another Great Skua was sighted a bit later but didn't allow us to approach for any good observations. I did manage to get a few shots of this second sighting. Photos of both Skuas were analyzed by Eric Mills and it was concluded that they were different individuals based on differing stages of molt between the two birds. Flight feather and covert wear is different between the two birds. The skua shown below (2nd bird) has much fresher primaries than the previous individual.

2nd Great Skua on German Bank - August 16, 2014 - Photo by Alix d'Entremont.

We got distant views of 3 Humpback Whales breaching on the horizon as well as Harbour Porpoises, a Minke Whale and a Grey Seal.

Minke Whale on German Bank - August 16, 2014 - Photo by Alix d'Entremont.

Grey Seal on German Bank - August 16, 2014 - Photo by Alix d'Entremont.

One of the most popular online venues to submit bird sightings is eBird. Graham Williams has submitted a report for this trip on eBird and has shared it with the other eBird users. The entire trip was split into 10 legs and GPS coordinates was acquired for each leg. Each sighting was assigned to one of the 10 legs and 10 seperate checklists were submitted. Below is a list provided to me by Graham Williams of all individuals observed during the trip.

Canada Goose: 15
Common Eider: 20
Common Loon: 4
Northern Fulmar: 1
Great Shearwater: 1033
Sooty Shearwater: 12
Manx Shearwater: 2
Cory’s Shearwater: 2 (Possible, ID unconfirmed)
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel: 15
Leach’s Storm-Petrel: 3
Northern Gannet: 69
Double-crested Cormorant: 90
Great Cormorant: 2
Black-bellied Plover: 3
Semi-palmated Plover: 1
Spotted Sandpiper: 2
Least Sandpiper: 12
Semi-palmated Sandpiper: 9
Peep sp.: 10
Red-necked Phalarope: 10
Red Phalarope: 58
Phalarope sp.: 115 (i.e. Red/Red-necked Phalarope but too far to ID with certainty)
Great Skua: 2
Jaeger sp.: 1 (Probably Parasitic)
Black Guillemot: 99
Atlantic Puffin: 37
Black-legged Kittiwake: 4
Herring Gull: 574 (most at or near wharf)
Great Black-backed Gull: 804 (most at or near wharf)
Gull sp.: 25
Common Tern: 9
Common/Arctic Tern: 1
Common Raven: 2

Links to ebird checklists of each trip leg are found here (from Graham Williams):

Wharf to Round Island: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S19627075

Round Island to Leg 1: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S19627201

Leg 1 to Leg 2: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S19627327

Leg 2 to Leg 3: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S19627457

Leg 3 to Leg 4: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S19627678

Leg 4 to Leg 5: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S19627814

Leg 5 to Leg 6: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S19627853

Leg 6 to Leg 7: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S19628047

Leg 7 to Leg 8: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S19628148

Leg 8 to Wharf: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S19628211

Below is a map showing our route along with the GPS points collected by Graham Williams. I've annotated where some of the more interesting species were seen.

Route for the trip on August 16, 2014.

Late August Weekend at Brier Island

This time of year, reports of fall migrants begin to come in. In SW Nova Scotia there were recent reports of Prairie Warblers, Tennessee Warblers, Nashville Warblers, Wilson's Warblers, Canada Warblers and Northern Waterthrushes. I decided to take advantage of the pleasant weather shown on the forecast for the Labour Day weekend and head to Brier Island. Due to the geography, the island is a great spot for catching migrants on the way to warmer places. I was hoping for some good warblers and I was not disappointed.

Brier Island Sunrise - August 30, 2014.

I left work at 2 pm on Friday and arrived on Brier island at around 5 pm. I had booked 2 nights at the Brier Island Hostel. I got my things sorted and headed down the Lighthouse Road that leads to West Head. I saw a large hawk on the wires and slowly approached to get a few badly lit photos. Before I could position my self it flew off into the trees near the road. This was a very large accipiter and I knew immediately that it could only be a Northern Goshawk. I then snapped a photo of the juvenile bird in a spruce tree.

Juvenile Northern Goshawk - Brier Island - August 29, 2014.

The size of this bird alone was enough to convince me that it was a goshawk. Some other distinguishing field marks from a Cooper's are a goshawk's heavy underpart streaking on a buffy base, contrasting supercilium and the bulkier build.

After a night's rest at the hostel I awoke at 5:15 am, got ready and headed out to see Lance Laviolette and the other banders. I spoke with them for a bit and birded the road leading to the Northern Light. I found a Blackpoll Warbler near the lighthouse.

Blackpoll Warbler - Brier Island - August 30, 2014.

I then drove down Gull Rock Road and hit a few pockets of great warblers. I got my first good photos of a Northern Waterthrush.

Northern Waterthrush - Brier Island - August 30, 2014.

My next find was the best of the day and my second lifer for the weekend. A beautiful Blue-winged Warbler appeared in front of me. These warblers breed up to the southern part of Maine so this bird was a reverse migrant, heading north to Canada instead of south towards Central America.

Blue-winged Warbler - Brier Island - August 30, 2014.

As of 2012, 95 Blue-winged Warblers have been reported in Nova Scotia. Below is another photo that shows its blue-grey wings.

Blue-winged Warbler - Brier Island - August 30, 2014.

Below are photos of a few other birds that were seen throughout the morning on Gull Rock Road and Lighthouse Road.

American Redstart - Brier Island - August 30, 2014.

Red-eyed Vireo - Brier Island - August 30, 2014.

I saw a few other somewhat uncommon warblers also. 2 Canada Warblers, 1 Nashville Warbler, 1 Cape May Warbler and 1 Wilson's Warbler. Here are a few shots.

Cape May Warbler - Brier Island - August 30, 2014.

Nashville Warbler - Brier Island - August 30, 2014.

My last lifer of the weekend came twice. I've identified this Mourning Warbler as a first year male due to the dull appearance and light veiled black in the throat. These warblers nest in Nova Scotia but particularly in the eastern half and are rare over in the west.

Mourning Warbler - Brier Island - August 30, 2014.

The other Mourning Warbler that I saw initially looked very similar to a Common Yellowthroat through the camera viewfinder. Checking my photos later I clearly saw that it wasn't a yellowthroat. This bird could be a first year female due to the extremely dull colouration and broken breastband. The narrow broken eyering, broken breastband and yellow supraloral area seperate it from other similar but rarer species (Connecticut and MacGillvray's).

Mourning Warbler - Brier Island - August 30, 2014.

Later on in the morning I stopped in at the banding station again and watched them process a few birds. Here are some shots of birds in the hand.

Northern Waterthrush in the hand - Brier Island - August 30, 2014.

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher in the hand - Brier Island - August 30, 2014.

Black-and-white Warbler in the hand - Brier Island - August 30, 2014.

Least Flycatcher in the hand - Brier Island - August 30, 2014.

The Brier Island Banding Station - August 30, 2014.

Sunday morning was only partly sunny and quite windy. I left Brier Island at 8:30 am and soon found 2 Eastern Bluebirds on Long Island (my first bluebirds for the year). Jerome d'Eon had called me about a Snowy Egret at Sainte-Anne-du-Ruisseau, Yarmouth County so I stopped in on the way home and picked up another good bird. After this weekend my Nova Scotia 2014 list is at 212 species and my Nova Scotia life list is at 263. I'm sure this fall will bring me a few more lifers.

The Salvages

The name of some places can evoke certain feelings. "The Salvages" conjures up thoughts of an inhospitable place fraught with danger. The Salvages are aptly named. Western Halfmoon and Eastern Halfmoon are two islands 2 km south-east of the Blanche Peninsula. These two islands are known as The Salvages. Keep going east after these islands and if you're lucky the next land you'll hit will be the fabled Sable Island. 

These islands are extremely exposed to the elements. In 1915 a fog alarm building was built on Western Halfmoon, the most southerly of the islands. To withstand the punishing Atlantic Ocean the walls of the building were built with 41 cm thick concrete. Visit Lighthousefriends.com for more information on this or any of Nova Scotia's many lighthouses.

On the morning of August 2, 2014 Bertin d'Eon and I put the Zodiac in at the wharf at Commercial Street in Port La Tour, Shelburne County. We had planned on visiting some of the islands east of Port La Tour. The ocean was very calm and the forecast was predicting light winds for the entire day. We decided to seize the opportunity and head for The Salvages.

As we were crossing from Baccaro to Blanche we came upon a pod of 5 porpoises. We got some great views thanks to the very flat waters. Our first stop was Blanche Island. This island was home to approximately 1300 Double-crested Cormorants. This was by far the largest colony that I've ever seen.

Hundreds of Double-crested Cormorants - Blanche Island - August 2, 2014

Blanche Island held my first Pectoral Sandpipers of the season as well as 20 Ruddy Turnstones, 15 Semipalmated Sandpipers and 6 Canada Geese. Black Guillemots were both on the water and on the rocks on the island. We landed and walked around the northern half. We were very pleased to find a Black Guillemot nest in some of the large rocks on the north western side as well as this single egg.

Black Guillemot Egg - Blanche Island - August 2, 2014

Our next destination was Western Halfmoon. On our way we spotted an adult Razorbill moulting into basic plumage. To my knowledge the nearest nesting sites for Razorbills are on Green Island (south of Yarmouth) and Ram Island (east of Lockeport). Surrounding the Razorbill was a group of about 100 Arctic Terns that must have nested nearby, possibly on Blanche Island.

Razorbill - near Blanche Island - August 2, 2014

Saying that I was excited as we were approaching The Salvages is an understatement. Western Halfmoon is simply a rock with a shingle beach, an old fog alarm building and a new automated solar-powered light tower. Our greeting party was made up of two Irish Moss harvesters. 

Western Halfmoon - August 2, 2014

Minutes after stepping foot on Western Halfmoon we had 4 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 14 Ruddy Turstones and 1 Whimbrel. I climbed to the top of the automated light to get a better angle for a photograph of the impressive building. The large treed island in the background of the photo below is the picturesque Cape Negro Island.

Fog building - Western Halfmoon - August 2, 2014

Northern Gannets were flying by in ones and twos. Most were adults and I only counted 2 immature birds. They were passing by much closer than you'd see them when on the mainland. We were able to enter the old structure to find it practically empty. The paint was peeling off of the walls and the place had a strong musty smell. 

Western Halfmoon Fog Building - August 2, 2014

I assume that the building isn't locked so that anyone stranded at sea will be able to use it for shelter. There was an emergency supply box that was last stocked in the late 1990's and some office furniture like the nice desk in the photo above.

We then headed to Eastern Halfmoon and found Black Guillemots leaving from within holes in the large rocks on the island. They were most likely nesting there. There were 19 Ruddy Turnstones and 10 Semipalmated Sandpipers on this tiny rock of an island.

On our way back towards Port La Tour we re-observed the Razorbill and were delighted to see the pod of Porpoises again. We made a quick stop at Crow's Neck Beach to count 75 Willets along with a few more species of shorebirds.

Soon after arriving at the group of islands east of Smithsville we found a lone American Oystercatcher. I was hoping we would find it. Last summer on August 4, 2013 we had 2 Oystercatchers at this exact location. This may be evidence of this species moving further east along the Nova Scotian coast. At present, the only confirmed breeding pairs of American Oystercatchers in Canada are at Cape Sable Island. I will have to check this location again next spring to try and confirm nesting.

Rare American Oystercatcher - Sheep Island - August 2, 2014

One of the islands east of Smithsville is named Sheep Island and this island hosts a colony of both Arctic and Common Terns. I was able to count about 225 individuals, most of which were Arctic Terns.

Common Tern - Sheep Island - August 2, 2014

We covered about 27 km during the morning's trip. Below is the track from the Commercial Street wharf at Port La Tour to The Salvages and back. Use Google Maps to explore this wonderful area.

Our trip

Common Terns in Pubnico Harbour

July 23, 2014

The Northern Brother is an island lying 600 m west of West Pubnico that hosts a colony of Common Terns, Arctic Terns and Roseate Terns. Below is a Google Maps satellite image of the island.

View Larger Map

A local man, Ted d'Eon, has been doing conservation work and research on this island in cooperation with the Canadian Wildlife Service and the Department of Natural Resources since 1990. The 2014 breeding year was one of the best in the last 24 years. A total of 731 tern nests were counted this summer with 37 Roseate Tern nests. The Roseate Tern is designated a "Threatened Species" by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife In Canada.

After the young Common Terns have fledged quite a few are brought to Pubnico Harbour to feed and to be fed. Two frequented sites that are accessible are at the Pont du Marais and at Little Island. The evening of July 23, 2014 the tide was high and there were a few fledged Common Terns and a dozen adults at the Pont du Marais. Conditions were favourable for some decent photography.

I put on my chest waders and slowly made my way through the water around some rocks. When I thought my positioning was correct I focused my camera on the juvenile tern and waited for the parents to come to feed it fresh fish.

Common Terns - Pubnico, Yarmouth Co. - July 23, 2014

I did notice something very strange happening. Every so often an adult would come to feed the juvenile tern some fish and another adult would chase away the first tern. I'm assuming that the first tern wasn't the young one's parent. When the actual parent saw a stranger trying to feed its youngster it would chase away the stranger. I also observed the juvenile tern being offered a fish and not taking it from one tern and then being offered fish by a different tern and readily accepting the second fish.

As I was enjoying the terns a Bonaparte's Gull flew in and landed quite close to me and allowed a few snaps before it flew off. A few days before, on July 20, I had seen a Laughing Gull and a Bonaparte's Gull at the end of Pond Road in Pubnico. Not long after the Bonaparte's Gull left, an immature Laughing Gull landed on another rock next to me but didn't stay long enough for a good photo. Here is a shot of the 1st cycle Bonaparte's Gull.

Bonaparte's Gull - Pubnico, Yarmouth Co. - July 23, 2014

The terns had moved about 50 feet further to the south of me so I slowly made my way closer while keeping the setting sun at my back. I was able to get down on the stomach on the shoreline and snapped a few more shots of the juvenile Common Tern with better lighting and a lower angle.

Juvenile Common Tern - Pubnico, Yarmouth Co. - July 23, 2014