I don’t have access to notable bird records from France but I may be the first person to have seen an Eastern Meadowlark in France! It was a VERY surprising find. And it followed on the tail of my sighting of an American Robin…also in France. I spotted the robin flying about and when I went to look for it more carefully what did I find but this meadowlark peering back at me from just a couple of meters away. I went looking for my camera but by the time I got it I couldn’t find the bird and was unable to track it down.

Of course, it wasn’t on mainland France. I guess I should add that caveat. In fact, it was 289 km east of Cape Breton Island and 222 km directly south of St.Pierre Island – the coast guard vessel I was on was in French Territorial Waters which, in my book, puts it in France. Right?

I keep trying to figure out what this bird was doing so far out at sea. My thinking is that it was trying to make the crossing from Cape Breton to southern Newfoundland, ran into the brisk NW winds we had during the night, and headed for the ship to get some rest….along with the robin. I didn’t see either one of them again. there’s LOTS of hidey-holes on a big working ship and they likely hunkered down. But the winds dropped later in the day and maybe they took off to the north that night well rested. I hope this was the case and that they made it.

Small bird sightings and landings on ships well out at sea are pretty common during migration seasons. We’ve had our share of them on this trip – we headed out of Halifax and have been well out to sea on the various “banks” – George’s Bank, Brown’s Bank, and right up the Nova Scotia coast. Birds can get blown off course or their navigational systems might be faulty but, for whatever reason, we see them with some regularity. On this trip I’ve seen:
American Robins
Song Sparrows
White-throated Sparrows (one was even singing!)
Chipping Sparrow
Dark-eyed Juncos
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle

Too often the ship becomes a death trap for them. There’s no food (and I forgot to bring some seed with me) and you see them searching frantically everywhere for a bite. Sometimes there’s insects and I watched a junco flying up and snagging insects from the bow of the ship when were stopped to take oceanographic measurements. But when we’re moving this usually isn’t an option unless the bird finds something lurking in some nook or cranny. It’s hard to watch and contemplate sometimes.

But birds aren’t the only hitchhikers. Check out this Silver-haired Bat that was found:

For this trip the ship was fitted with 2 sound recording devices: one for birds and one for bats. It will be interesting to see what they turn up.

This was definitely a day that tested our patience, but the passionate energy of hopeful nature-enthusiasts made up for it! I arrived at dawn to a very birdy scene and had just nearly finished opening nets when a smug cloud darkened the horizon. I checked my weather app and sure enough, 100% chance of thunderstorm for the next hour… so much for the 30% chance of drizzle. So, I ran about and closed up all the nets, acquiring 5 birds in the process, and hurried back to the hut just as the rain broke. About halfway through the storm some friends from Guelph arrived, and we waited out the rain which cleared away into beautiful blue skies. We were able to open again for about 2 hours before having to close early due to the wind and more showers. A slow day for catching perhaps, but it was still birdy and we managed to complete a census as a group between net rounds. We were definitely not lacking in spirit! After doing totals (which did not take long…), Eila surprised us with her amazing poetry recounting the day’s events (I’m told she may quit her engineering quest and soon strike up a career as a poet…)!

“Once upon a dawnlight dreary, while we pondered weak and weary, waiting for the clouds to split, for they had dumped quite a bit. Many a nature-nerd awaited hoping for the birds that were fated , never to fall into a net, too much rain and wind I bet. Finally, blue emerged from above, nets were reopened with much love. A FISP snuck in to much delight, the net stopping its flighty plight. Unfortune hit yet again, for he was but our only friend, except 3 more SOSPs who had before been caught, and thus our hearts were lonely and distraught. A census then distracted us- turtles basking, bluebirds twitting, and BOGUs causing quite a fuss! Vultures came in, the clouds became grim, and quickly the nets were closed yet again. What a tumultuous morn’, with weather forlorn, but what made it great were a group of slay friends.”
– – ELO

Notable sightings were a massive flock of the first Bonaparte’s Gulls of the year, which I noticed were flying towards the river just as the thunderstorm broke, and we later saw some more on census, totalling to over 200 for the day. The first Greater Yellowlegs of the year also made an appearance, flying high over the field. Although a very unsettled day, there were still many birds around, however not many migrants, as the migration conditions were pretty poor last night.

Banded 3 of 3 species
1 AMRO
1 SOSP
1 FISP

Sarah

We started Spring banding early on the premise that beginning on the traditional date of April 1st did not reflect the “new reality” of climate change – that birds were moving earlier. So, March 23rd it was. And we banded pretty steadily up until the 8th after which time I had to head out to Halifax to do 3 weeks of seabird counts in the North Atlantic for the CWS. But…banding will not come to a complete stop as Sarah has volunteered to be the BIC (Bander-in-Charge) for a number of days and Martin Wernhart and Teri Groh will take over on another day. That’s a good thing as we’ve been catching consistently – by the end of the day on the 8th we had reached 309 birds. And as a treat on that day, we banded the 1st Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Savannah Sparrow of the migration.


April 8th; Banded 16:
1 Golden-crowned Kinglet
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
3 American Goldfinches
1 Savannah Sparrow
1 American Tree Sparrow
3 Song Sparrows
1 Swamp Sparrow
4 Red-winged Blackbirds
1 Common Grackle

And, oh yes, something else happened on the 8th – a full solar eclipse. Initially, when I had first heard about it, I thought: so what’s the big deal? Well, my friends, it IS a big deal! What an experience!! Nighttime in the afternoon isn’t something I’ll forget. Even the birds stopped singing for about 10 minutes – it looked like night to them too.
Rick

It’s interesting how migration sees the ebb and flow of birds. Yesterday (the 6th) we were quite busy…and so were the birds. After a slow start (as the birds were waiting for things to warm up), there was a fairly constant flow of birds along the pond/woodland edge and between the prairie field and the pond edge. American Goldfinches and especially Golden-crowned Kinglets seemed to be everywhere. This morning it was much slower and there was barely a single Kinglet to be seen. With last night’s clear skies and light winds I’m sure they took off for the north. I hope they cleared The GTA! This was quite likely as the many we banded were carrying good fat loads, a strong indicator that, should conducive flying conditions prevail, birds would be on the wing.

The Kinglets left but some new birds moved in (although not in big numbers…yet): an Osprey and a couple of Savannah Sparrows, the first for the year here.

On both days we got considerable help from keen groups of volunteers:

Having skilled volunteers to take care of the nets gave me a chance to work with “newbies” to develop useful skills that may come in useful to them and to us down the road.


April 6th; Banded 40:
14 Golden-crowned Kinglets
8 American Goldfinches
1 Field Sparrow
10 American Tree Sparrows
6 Song Sparrows
1 Red-winged Blackbird
ET’s: 33 spp.

April 7th: Banded 23:
1 Downy Woodpecker
7 American Goldfinches
5 American Tree Sparrows
4 Song Sparrows
1 Red-winged Blackbird
5 Common Grackles
ET’s: 39 spp.
Rick