The Canadian Maritime Provinces, 9-11-23 to 9-13-23

 We entered Canada from Maine and into New Brunswick. Our one birding destination was the Irving Nature Park near Saint John. The time was low, as the Bay of Fundy there does report the most extreme tides on earth, which brought in plovers: Black-bellied and Semi-palmated. Out in the gentle waters of the bay we saw a large raft of Surf Scoter with about ten Ruddy Duck. Fortunately we brought our scope and was able to ID these birds from far off shore.

Irving Nature Park also has forests where Black-capped Chickadee and Dark-eyed Junco. We even saw a Ruby-throated Hummingbird in the last blooms of the Virginia roses.

 

The next day we headed to Prince Edward Island (PEI) via the Confederation Bridge where Herring Gulls swooped and cried and gathered on the shore of the island province. We headed to the north central part of the island to PEI National Park and the Cavendish Beach and Brockley Beach areas. 

The beach areas are a mix of shore, dunes, open wildflower and grass meadow, and fir forest. The weather was cloudy and intermittently drizzly. The birds were in general not too camera shy. We saw, among others...

Bonaparte's Gull

Common Tern

  Sanderling

 

Semi-Palmated Plover

Savannah Sparrow

On September 12th we hopped on the ferry from PEI to Nova Scotia. Herring Gull, Double-crested Cormorant hugged the shorelines as did a Common Yellowthroat and Bald Eagle. Our first day in Nova Scotia was all about rain and fog. The birding was not great so we relaxed and hoped for a better day on the 13th. It was better, foggy, but not much rain. We birded Cape Breton but the eastern part that sticks the farthest out onto the North Atlantic. We saw Savannah Sparrows at the Marconi National Historic Site as well a swooping Herring Gulls off the cliffs.

 

The birds were more cooperative with good views at Dominion Beach National Park a little to the north-west of Marconi. All in the general Glace Bay area.

Bald Eagle

Semi-palmated Sandpiper

Sanderling

Red Knot

Semi-palmated Plover

Greater Yellowlegs

Short-billed Dowitcher

Black-bellied Plover

 

We headed to the Fortress of Louisbourg, a wonderful historical site with a great reproduction of the dwellings and fortress built on the original site. The birds mostly ringed waters and grounds outside of the fort.

 

We saw Common Loon, Herring Gull. Savannah Sparrow, American Goldfinch, Common Eider, Black Guillemont, and Canada Goose. The most entertaining species were the juvenile Bard Swallows in one of the stone barns chasing and pestering the adults for food.

 

 

Despite the less than perfect weather the Canadian Maritime provinces did not disappoint in beauty and birds. We managed to get three life birds too!