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Newfoundland and Labrador RBA for Jan. 12, 2004 - January 12, 2004
Newfoundland and Labrador RBA for January 12, 2004 Birds mentioned: DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT King Eider BARROW'S GOLDENEYE RING-NECKED DUCK BUFFLEHEAD HOODED MERGANSER Gyrfalcon BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER Northern Goshawk Rough-legged Hawk Black-headed Gull BONAPARTE'S GULL Lesser Black-backed Gull YELLOW-LEGGED GULL BOHEMIAN WAXWING NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD HERMIT THRUSH YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER BLACK AND WHITE WARBLER YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT INDIGO BUNTING DICKCISSEL COMMON GRACKLE SUMMER TANAGER BALTIMORE ORIOLE Savannah Sparrow Swamp Sparrow Song Sparrow White-throated Sparrow Fox SparrowThe most significant sighting of the past week was the appearance of a SUMMER TANAGER on Sycamore Place, St. John's on Jan. 4. The bird was last seen there on Jan. 8. This is the Province's fourth record for this species, but a January record is quite remarkable! A few were reported from St. Pierre after a October hurricane, so the bird probably arrived on the Island around that time. November and December were among the mildest on record so the bird was not under too much stress from cold. Alas, the temperatures locally have dropped significantly this past week so it is assumed the bird succumbed to the cold weather.
The Ferryland CBC (southern Avalon) was held on January 3. Of the 55 species seen, the highlights include: 2 NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD (Ferryland and Renews), a DICKCISSEL (Ferryland), an INDIGO BUNTING (Renews), a HERMIT THRUSH (Admiral's Beach), 8 COMMON GRACKLE, 4 DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS, 1 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER (Renews), 5 SAVANNAH SPARROW, 8 FOX SPARROW, 3 SONG SPARROW, 41 WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, 2 SWAMP SPARROW and three YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS.
On Jan. 4 a YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT and a BLACK AND WHITE WARBLER were seen on Winter Avenue, St. John's. The CHAT was still present as of Jan. 12. On Jan 4, a SONG SPARROW was seen at Quidi Vidi Lake, as well as a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL and the over-wintering BONAPARTE'S GULL. On Jan. 2 a dark phase GYRFALCON, a SAVANNAH SPARROW and a KING EIDER were seen at Cape Spear (near St. John's). The SAVANNAH SPARROW was still present at the Cape as of Jan. 11. On Jan. 2, a pair of BARROW'S GOLDENEYE, a HOODED MERGANSER and 19 BLACK-HEADED GULLS seen in Gambo (NE COAST). On Jan. 5 a BALTIMORE ORIOLE was reported visiting a feeder in Shoal Harbour (east-central NF). A BUFFLEHEAD appeared at Long Pond in St. John's on Jan. 10 and on the same date, two RING-NECKED DUCKS were seen in bay Bulls Harbour (south of St. John's). A lingering HERMIT THRUSH was seen at Long Pond on Jan. 11. The YELLOW-LEGGED GULL was seen again at Quidi Vidi Lake on Jan. 11 and a flock of about 200 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS were seen in the Pine Bud Avenue area of St. John's on Jan. 10. A trip to the city dump on Jan. 11 resulted in several NORTHERN GOSHAWKS and a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK.
Todd Boland
tboland@nfld.com
Newfoundland RBA for Jan. 24, 2004 - January 25, 2004
Newfoundland and Labrador RBA for January 24, 2004 Birds mentioned: HORNED GREBE Red-necked Grebe Red-throated Loon King Eider Canada Geese Bufflehead Greater Scaup BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER Wilson's Snipe BARROW'S GOLDENEYE YELLOW-LEGGED GULL Lesser Black-backed Gull BONAPARTE'S GULL GYRFALCON BOREAL OWL Mourning Dove Black-backed Woodpecker BOHEMIAN WAXWING YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT BALTIMORE ORIOLE American Tree Sparrow LINCOLN'S SPARROWThe Quidi Vidi Lake YELLOW-LEGGED GULL has been seen almost daily this past week or so. There are now two BONAPARTE'S GULLS in the City and at least 8 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS were seen at Quidi Vidi Lake on Jan. 17. The dark phase GYRFALCON has also been a near daily visitor to Quidi Vidi Lake this past week. Unusual for Srt. John's, was a RED-NECKED GREBE seen in the Narrows of St. John's harbour on Jan. 24. A flcok of about 300 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS were seen near Quidi Vidi lake on Jan. 24. The overwintering LINCOLN'S SPARROW at Quidi Vidi lake was seen again as of Jan. 24. A KING EIDER was seen of Cape Spear near St. John's on Jan. 24 and a BUFFLEHEAD, rare on the Avalon Peninsula, was reported from Upper Gullies (just west of St. John's) on the same date. The two WILSON'S SNIPE are still present at the X-Wave Marsh near the Confederation Building in St. John's. The Winter Avenue YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT was last seen on Jan. 15. A stroke of luck was a local birder seeing a BOREAL OWL flying over Topsail Road in the City on Jan. 23. A female BALCK-BACKED WOODPECKER was seen on the north shore of Long Pond in the City on Jan. 23.
Reports from elsewhere in Newfoundland include a total of 266 GREATER SCAUP and 43 CANADA GEESE overwintering in Clarenville (Trinity Bay). A BALTIMORE ORIOLE was reported from Witless Bay (southern Avalon) on Jan. 13. A RED-THROATED LOON was reported from there on Jan. 24. A HORNED GREBE was seen in Biscay Bay (southern Avalon) on Jan. 24 and the overwintering BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER in Renews was still surviving as of Jan. 24. Also on Jan. 24, there was an AMERICAN TREE SPARROW seen in the community of Biscay Bay. Unusual for western Newfoundland, was a BARROW'S GOLDENEYE seen in Stephenville on Jan. 18. Also unusual was a flock of 17 MOURNING DOVES overwintering at a feeder in Kippens as reported on Jan. 21.
Todd Boland
tboland@nfld.com
Newfoundland RBA for Feb. 22, 2004 - February 22, 2004
Newfoundland and Labrador RBA for February 22, 2004 Birds mentioned: Canada Geese Northern Pintail Greater Scaup BARROW'S GOLDENEYE BUFFLEHEAD Black-headed Gull BONAPARTE'S GULL Lesser Black-backed Gull Black-legged Kittiwake HERMIT THRUSH American Robin Bohemian Waxwing Cedar Waxwing RUSTY BLACKBIRDThe main event this past week or so was the beginning migration of BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES. On Feb. 22 approximately 12, 000 were seen flying north of Cape Spear in the space of an hour! The influx of AMERICAN ROBINS, BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS and CEDAR WAXWINGS is now a mass exodus! This past week only a handful of AMERICAN ROBINS have been seen, mostly as individual birds. A small flock of 48 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS and 18 CEDAR WAXWINGS were seen on Feb. 17 at Cape Spear, where they were scrounging for cranberries along the shoreline. The HERMIT THRUSH is still surviving on fallen mountain-ash berries at Long Pond in the City.
Besides St. John's, there appear to be small flocks of BLACK-HEADED GULLS scattered along the Avalon Peninsula. On Feb. 21 there were BLACK-HEADED GULLS seen in asrnold's Cove, Shoal Harbour and Bellevue Beach. A BONAPARTE'S GULL was also seen at Arnold's Cove while a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL was seen at Shoal Harbour.
There are still about 250 GREATER SCAUP overwintering at Shoal Harbour, along with 83 CANADA GEESE. BARROW'S GOLDENEYE are a yearly occurance at Traytown (NE Coast) again this year, with two birds seen there on Feb. 21. There are also 23 BUFFLEHEAD in Traytown this winter. A pair of NORTHERN PINTAIL at Arnold's Cove is very rare here for winter (with the exception of St. John's were there are always 200 plus that overwinter).
There was a flock of about 350 GREATER SCAUP seen at Stephenville Crossing (west coast) on Feb. 17. This species appears to be overwintering in the Province in ever increasing numbers. Three BUFFLEHEAD were also seen in the same area. Very unusual was a RUSTY BLACKBIRD seen in Kippens (west coast) on Feb. 14. Even rarer was a single AMERICAN ROBIN seen in Goose Bay, Labrador on Feb. 14.
Todd Boland
tboland@nfld.com
Newfoundland and Labrador RBA for March 29, 2004 - March 29, 2004
Newfoundland and Labrador RBA for March 29, 2004 Birds mentioned: Red-necked Grebe BONAPARTE'S GULL COMMON GULL Ring-billed Gull (first spring arrivals) Lesser Black-backed Gull BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER DUNLIN SANDERLING Gyrfalcon BOHEMIAN WAXWING RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD HOARY REDPOLLThe birding world has been pretty quiet this past few weeks. The Quidi Vidi Lake GYRFALCON continues to be seen on a daily basis, much to the delight to local birders, as well as lake walkers! A RED-NECKED GREBE has been a resident of the Narrows to St. John's Harbour this past couple of weeks. The last reported BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS for the Island was a flock of about 30 seen at Cape Spear on March 10. Two RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS have been reported this past week or two with a male at Outer Cove (near St. John's) on March 13 and a female in the east end of St. John's on March 22. Presumably these are spring migrants (despite the fact that RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS are very uncommon in eastern Newfoundland. Three BONAPARTE'S GULLS were seen at Pier 17 in St. John's on March 13 and a COMMON GULL is still resident at Pier 17 as of March 28. At least 4 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS are still present in St. John's. The first RING-BILLED GULL migrant was seen in St. John's on March 28.
Elsewhere around the Island, there are still scattered reports of HOARY REDPOLLS appearing at feeders among large flocks of COMMON REDPOLLS. The overwintering BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, DUNLIN and SANDERLING were still present in Renews on March 27.
Todd Boland
tboland@nfld.com
Due to the large number of websites I manage, and the vast amount of data received over the past years, all old reports are now archived offline. If you need any of this information please feel free to e-mail me, and I will e-mail you what you may be looking for.