Nature Miramichi

Checking out Strawberry Marsh river shore yesterday I came across a Snow Bunting, then later in the day a second one on Hay Island. Its getting to be that time of year!

It was very very windy on Hay Island yesterday and I think that limited what one could observe. I did see 4 Hudsonian Godwits which have been on the island in varying numbers for the last week or so, and 3 Dunlins that have also been hanging about as well as a couple of Black-bellied Plovers in “off season” plumage. I got a distant and fleeting look at a juvenile Sanderling as well. I had not seen one on Hay Island previously although it seems to be well suited to them.

The Dunlin in the photo is hunkered down in the strong wind.

Earlier in the day at the inlet next to the water treatment plant in Newcastle I witnessed a Greater Yellowlegs’ very narrow escape from a Peregrine Falcon …. The tide at about 8:30 yesterday morning was a long way out and there was a vast mudflat beyond the water treatment lagoon … not any other shorebirds though … gulls (mostly Ring-billed) and Black Ducks and 4 Hooded Mergansers were present.

Mid-afternoon at Oak Point I saw an extensive line of Double-crested Cormorants off shore …. Round numbers I would guess 800 to 1000 of them.

Peter