BAIN BIRDATHON 1991 A BEGINNER'S POINT OF VIEW by Linda Thomas 
     
    
   
   
    
     By 5:30 a.m. we are off. At this point I'm thinking "what am I doing 
     
     here!" At the end of the day I was the one saying, we should have left at 4:30. 
     
     We, being Roberta Palmer, Ray Cooke, the experience on the team, and myself, 
     
     the novice. We headed first to Valleyfield, well sort of, there were many stops 
     
     along the way, at every marsh, bog or bird feeder that looked interesting. We 
     
     were only mildly discouraged when the woodcock and the Blue Grosbeak failed to 
     
     appear for us, things would surely improve. 
     
     Improve they did, Valleyfield itself 
     
     offered up some warblers, grosbeaks, LVALLEYFIELD T7 
     
     woodpeckers, a peewee and some others. The 
     
     List was beginning to grow. It was while we 
     
     were leaving Valleyfield or trying to, in any case, that I caught the real 
     
     essence of bird watching. It was only a small event in the day, but it had it 
     
     all. First the discovery. We were driving down a narrow dirt path, all the 
     
     windows down listening, when everyone said at once "what was that?". The chase 
     
     - out of the car, books and glasses in hand following that sound. The car, by 
     
     the way, is left running in the middle of the road. We found him, high in a 
     
     tree, in plain view, singing his heart out. The identification - well, we 
     
     looked at him, we looked at the books and back at the bird, there was much 
     
     discussion as to the colour, the wings, tail, and every other part of this 
     
     little guy who never missed a note through our examination. The verdict was 
     
     Nashville Warbler. It's time for me to admit that, as we walked back to 
     
     retrieve the car, I'm thinking "how can they be so sure? It just looks like a— 
     
     little greyish yellowish bird to me." Back in the car Ray finds his tape of 
     
     bird songs and plays the Nashville Warbler. Satisfaction - this is it. Beyond 
     
     all doubt that is what I heard. Birding in a nutshell. No wonder its becoming 
     
     such a popular pastime. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     The next stop was Harvey Moore's Wildlife Area. He 
     
     hoped to find some water birds here but, other than 
     
    
   
   
    
     4533:§\ geese, the ponds were vacant. A walk through the trails 
     
     made the stop worthwhile as we found a number of 
     
     lé?§:33\ woodland birds. As we stopped to record our finds at 
     
    
   
   
    
     Aé3§:gf=> the end of the trail, a Sharp-shinned Hawk sort of just 
     
     cruised over our heads. Past noon hour, we decide to 
     
     move on to shorebirds. Being the back seat driver, I 
     
     can't accuse Ray of being lost but I'm fairly sure the Riverton Marsh was not 
     
     on the travel plan. However, it turned out to be one of the most pleasant stops 
     
     of the day. The road goes straight through the extensive marsh area. we set up 
     
     the scope and had a leisurely look at some widgeon and snipe. Some of the time 
     
     we were content just to look at nothing. It was a very peaceful spot. From here 
     
     on I'm not sure of the order of the stops but we had a look in Mt. Stewart and 
     
     Savage Harbour. I do remember Blooming Point. A great vantage point enabled us 
     
     to look out to sea or into the marsh. Ray and Roberta spent a long time 
     
     discussing a dot on the horizon which appeared to one of them to be a 
     
     shoveller. There were some sparrows and cormorants at a much closer range which 
     
     kept me occupied for awhile but, I must admit, the cold wind was getting to me 
     
     and I didn't much care if it was a shoveller or not. Some time later, it moved, 
     
     they concurred, and we left. 
     
     Another high point in the day was Tracadie Harbour where we were pleased 
     
     to find the sandpipers and Black-bellied Plovers had arrived back. The list was 
     
     lengthening. I redeemed myself for my decided lack of interest in the shoveller 
     
    
   
   
    
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