Halifax, Nova Scotia (1 Viewer)

Hello all! As I sit typing I am also watching the snow fall outside of my window- yes, the first snow fall of the year. Today was the first day I walked outside and thought, "Man, sure feels like winter!"

While all the warblers are most likely gone, we did have an excellent sighting today! A Blue-grey Gnatcatcher! This is actually the first time I have seen these one of these guys in Canada, so my boyfriend and I were very pleased with the sighting. We then had a discussion about birds that choose to migrate very far east and then south, as BGGN are not Nova Scotia breeders. I would love to know some more about this phenomenon!

Other birds we saw:
- Many banded/ringed Mallard Ducks
-Black Ducks
-American Wigeons
-A Black duck or Mallard crossed with a Wigeon- is this even possible? Or is our I.D.ing completely off?
-Black-capped Chickadees
-American Crows
-Bald Eagle
-Ring-billed gulls in winter plumage
-Herring gulls
-Rock Pigeons

Not very exciting birds to be out in the cold, which is why we left after a relatively short period of time, and now I am sitting at the computer! :eat:

Good birding!
Nicole Vella-Geldart

Hi Nicole

Some lovely birds showing up in Nova Scotia lately according to the NS-RBA
message board,including a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher at Sullivan's pond.Would
love to see a Bells Vireo,Bullock's Oriole,Dickcissal or Yellow-throated Warbler.
First snowfall here finally and have to get to Nova Scotia for all those neat
birds soon!:t:

Hey!
I was the one who found the Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher! Hehe!
I also found one of the Yellow-throated Warblers seen here this Autumn. Dominic Cormier or myself (Nicole Vella-Geldart) do the best to report everything we see!

So far I have seen the Bell's Vireo, the butt end of the Townsend's Warbler, the Graylag Goose(!), the Royal, Forester's and Sandwich Tern, and Black Skimmers. I really have had a remarkable time out here!
Next weekend I am going on a birding trip to try to see a Dickcissal, and many other NS rarities. Just this past week a Grey Kingbird was seen there! How incredible!

Hope you're enjoying the snow, ours didn't even stay on the ground :-O

Hi Nicole,

Wow your finding all those birds ,that must be very exciting and rewarding!
:t::t:.Good luck in finding the Dickcissel and anything else that comes around.Will have to pay attention to the names on the Rba report and
Nova Scotia nature group.Unfortunenately the snow is here to stay,it was a nice autumn though.I noticed you looking at a place to volunteer at a bird
banding station,there one here in Manitoba at Delta Marsh.I think though it
closed down this year due to lack of funding.

Those are some very nice sightings.
I've heard several times that bird ranges are changing and some breeds are now interbreeding as their ranges overlap.
I've also noticed that range maps differ depending on who has produced them.
Happy birding and please post more of your sightings.

How about that bird seen in Nova Scotia being debated here,
http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/FRID.html

I WISH I could have seen that! But, alas, I did not! This weekend I will try to find something good though!
And thank you for that suggestion! I will look into it. I am looking to just become the best bird biologist that I can be, so whether it means volunteering to get trained, I am willing to do it!
Thanks again for both of your kind responses! This site is for sure helping me in becoming a pro-birder, and its people like you guys that encourage me to keep on trucking!

Here is another quick report about my trip today to a local waterfowl hotspot:
-Eurasian Wigeon 4! Two breeding males and two nonbreeding
-American Coot 1
- Pine Warbler! A bright male too
- Mallards ~100
-American Wigeon ~30
- American Black Duck ~30
- Bald Eagle 1
- American Crows ~30
- European Starlings ~600

Good birding everyone!