Nature Miramichi

Hi All,

We had a good visit to Hay Island on Saturday. The 9 of us were there for about 4 hours. We did not see many shorebirds which can be expected in the spring as they tend to want to get to their breeding grounds quickly. Unfortunately we did not see one shorebird known to breed on Hay Island but has been reported previously, the Willet. We did see two Least Sandpipers and single Semipalmated Plovers have been reported there. We did locate the rare Eurasian duck , a Garganey, that has been there now for a complete month. It is in the company of male Green-winged Teals. As it is in the Teal family and has been known to mate with Green-winged Teals, perhaps that is the situation. Perhaps shortly we will see hybrid Garganey/GwT ducklings?

Attached are two photos Nelson Cloud took that day of us. Thanks Nelson.

Between us the group reported 37 bird species. One of the important features of Hay Island, regarding birds, is that there is a wide variety of habitats so many bird species are attracted to it and its coastal location makes it important for migrating birds.

Peter