BIRD IONOGRAPES: by Donald Wilkinson 
     
    
   
   
    
     EVENINC CflDSBlIK (Coccothraustes vospertinus) 
     
    
   
   
    
     Order: PASSERIFORMES , Species: 28-67-126 
     
    

    
     Family: FRINGILLIDAE - Canaries, siskins, Finches 
     
    

    
     Distribution: A narrow band across Canada and parts of northern U.S.A. from B.C. to 
     
     Haritimes and Newfoundland. Winters irregularly and locally to south 
     
     from southern California to northern Florida. 
     
    

    
     Nest: A shallow cup built of twigs and lined with rootlets mainly in fir, pine, 
     
     spruce or other conifers; sometimes in various deciduous trees 2 m to 21 
     
     m (6 to 70 ft) above the ground from sea level to 2,750 m (9,000 ft). 
     
     Habitats - northern coniferous forest in spring through autumn and 
     
     general woodland in winter. 
     
    

    
     Eggs: 3 or 4; blue or blue-green. 
     
    

    
     Diet: Their main food is buds and seeds of maples and conifers; the berries of 
     
     chokeberry and cherry, apples; buds of various other trees; insects, 
     
     beetles, budworms, and cankerworms in summer. Very fond of sunflower 
     
     seeds from feeders; maple sap, salted sand and gravel. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Song: Common call is a "pest peet kreek' 
     
    

    
     size: 18 to 22 cm (7 to 8.5 inches). 
     
    

    
     Note: Also classified as Hesperiphona vespertina. 
     
    

    
     SECOND ANNUAL AUTUMN BIRDING CLASSIC: J. Dan MCAskill 
     
    
   
   
    
     Boomer's forecast looked good two days before the Natural History Society’s 
     
     Birding Team was to kick-off the Second Annual Autumn Birding Classic to raise funds 
     
     for the Island Nature Trust’s land management program. The night before, it still 
     
     looked good. Sleep came quickly after lunch, equipment, checklists, and field guides 
     
     were packed and alarms were set to arise for the 4:15 pick-up of the second team 
     
     member. The sound of window panes rattling under the assault of wind driven rain 
     
     showers brought a harsh awakening in the middle of the night. It sounded most 
     
     ominous! 
     
    

    
     The first trip to the truck to move out equipment started with water droplets 
     
     being driven by the wind. By the time I traversed the 30 meters to the truck, the 
     
     very cold droplets became hail stones. And we didn't think it would be cold yet 
     
     again on another count. 
     
    

    
     By the time the team was assembled and sipping coffee (Tim's potent brew of 
     
     course), the rain had started to clear in Brackley. The team members included Ray 
     
     Cooke, Linda Thomas, Roberta Palmer, and myself. We decided to head east for owl 
     
     calls along the area between Route 2 and the north shore, a good area in the past. 
     
     We soon caught up with the storm clouds as they too headed east. Our first stop near 
     
     Red Head Harbour yielded difficult hearing conditions for playing owl calls and 
     
     obtaining responses. However, the weather was improving slowly and the clouds 
     
     cleared to reveal a 3/8 moon. 
     
    

    
     The first bird recorded for the day was a Great Horned Owl that called 
     
     spontaneously but it was only heard by a few members of the team. Playing of the 
     
     Northern Saw—whet Owl yielded first a very faint response to the northwest and, 
     
     several repetitions and minutes later, the shadowy movement of a bird silhouetted 
     
     against the sky and then disappearing into a stand of spruce. Another playing of the 
     
     tape yielded an immediate response from this area and the saw-whet crossed the road 
     
     shortly thereafter. By dawn, we were three owling stops into the day and, with the 
     
     addition of a Barred Owl, we had obtained responses of the three owls we expected. 
     
     We had also seen our first Great Blue Heron silhouetted against St. Peter’s Bay. 
     
    

    
     Black Pond was our next stop and the ducks were plentiful and varied. A Pied- 
     
     billed Grebe added to the diversity as did a Yellow-rumped Warbler and Spotted 
     
     Sandpiper. Onward we wandered, stopping next at East Point. This stop excited our 
     
     imaginations as it has yielded many hawks over the years and was where we had a 
     
     spectacular display of a Peregrine and Merlin grasping the same bird last year. 
     
     Birding often brings the unexpected and this day was no different. A single glimpse 
     
    
   
   
    
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