Trumpeter swan sighted in eastern P.E.I.

The trumpeter swan was first sighted last Tuesday. (Dwaine Oakley)

CBC News
Posted: May 9, 2011 10:51 AM AT

A trumpeter swan, rarely seen east of the great lakes, has made an appearance in eastern P.E.I.

The bird was first seen by Angela Kelly last Tuesday. She was driving along the Floating Bridge Road when she noticed it swimming with a Canada goose in MacLure's Pond, just west of Murray River.

"The first spotting, I saw his bum and he was with Canada geese and all these birds had their rear ends up in the air and I was thinking, that's odd," said Kelly.

"I thought, well, it must be a farm goose that got loose and just decided to go for a swim. And I thought that for a while and I drove on. I decided to come back that way on Tuesday morning and there he was in his glory just like a fairy tale floating around. And finally other people have spotted him."

Birders speculate the swan could have taken a wrong turn while migrating, or joined a flock of Canada geese during migration.

Biologists recognize three main populations of the swan: on the Pacific Coast, in the Rocky Mountains in the U.S., and around the borders of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

The trumpeter swan is the largest of North America's waterfowl, typically weighing 12 kilograms with wingspans up to three metres.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2011/05/09/pei-trumpeter-swan-584.html

Great Outdoors: Bald eagle sighting worth the odds

4:09 AM, May. 14, 2011

The more you go out there, the more you will see. It's a matter of playing the odds. The odds of encountering a bald eagle at 50 feet? Not so good, if you go out one time. If you go out 1,000, or 10,000 maybe, at least you just might get a shot.

I'm in that 10,000 group to be sure. And by sheer repetition, I'd actually seen a bald eagle that close on one occasion before getting lucky again late last week.

The first up-close sighting took place in a kayak, when I floated near the riverbank underneath a low-hanging tree branch. Oblivious to the fact a bald eagle perched on it, I practically capsized when the eagle took off right above me.

Fast forward three years to a fine sunny morning this May. I am walking a path 50 yards from the banks of the Chenango, a river I love. I'm not thinking bald eagles. I'm not thinking at all. I am sniffing the air. I am seeking wildflowers. I am listening for vireos singing their spring breeding songs.

A wetland pool by the trail also gets my attention. I scan fallen logs jutting out of the water, hoping turtles have clambered up on them to bask in the sun. I've also seen wood ducks here. I've seen herons and plenty of frogs.

So much to sense and drink in on this morning. Not much room for a thought of bald eagles. But wait. What is that, 40 yards up the trail, in a spruce at the edge of the wetland? Reflecting the sun, like a brand new softball, a disc of bright white offsets deep green spruce needles, on a branch 15 feet up the tree.

It cannot be, can it? It most certainly can — that softball is a bald eagle's head. Viewed through binoculars, it looks wet from a recent downpour. But the sun blazes down. Not a raindrop in sight. Has the eagle just dived for a fish or a duck in the pool?

That question, once posed, swirls around me like thick river fog. "Perhaps," is the answer, but whatever took place several minutes before takes a back seat to what happens now. I can't turn around. I must walk toward the eagle if I want to return to my car. And the eagle will fly when I take my first steps. They don't let people walk up to see them.

So much for what usually happens. Next thing I know, I am standing directly across the small pool from the eagle. Thirty yards away, the snoozing bird barely can keep its eyes open. I watch while that white head, magnified through field glasses, morphs from a softball to beach ball in size.

Last year in New York, 173 breeding pairs of bald eagles produced 244 young. A fair number of those birds fledged here in Central New York. Take a walk by a river, a wetland, a lake. The odds just might be in your favor.

Marsi is a freelance writer from Vestal. E-mail him at rmarsi@stny.rr.com

http://www.stargazette.com/article/20110515/LIFE12/105150311/Great-Outdoors-Bald-eagle-sighting-worth-odds?odyssey=nav|head

Leads on rare sighting of kokako sought

DEAN KOZANIC

SOUTH ISLAND KOKAKO: A museum specimen.

Last updated 14:22 19/04/2011

A tramper who is believed to have snapped a photo of a rare South Island kokako in Kahurangi National Park is being hunted by a band of bird lovers.

Golden Bay's Alec Milne said the South Island Kokako Investigation Team was keen to contact a woman who took a picture of a wattled bird on March 29. The woman was tramping between Salisbury and Balloon huts at the time, he said.

"She was on the side of the track and beckoned to a backpacker to have a look at the bird which she said should not be there."

Mr Milne said he heard of the incident through a driver who later gave the backpacker a lift out of the park.

Mr Milne said securing a photograph of a kokako, which has been listed as functionally extinct by the Department of Conservation, would be a coup. North Island kokako have survived and are protected. But numbers of South Island kokako, which had a distinctive orange wattle, had been extremely low for the last 100 years, he said. However, Mr Milne said 57 unconfirmed reported sightings were made of the South Island kokako in the 20 years to 2010.

If you have a recent photo of the South Island kokako taken in the Nelson region, contact Helen Murdoch, ph 035462873 or email helenm@nelsonmail.co.nz

- The Nelson Mail

http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/4905850/Leads-on-rare-sighting-of-kokako-sought

Bird sighting means winter should take wing

By KYLE PETERSON
kpeterson@beaufortgazette.com
843-706-8147
Published Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Joyce Geiger couldn't mistake the fluttering at her backyard bird feeder Sunday morning, even though several other birds surrounded it.

"A painted bunting really stands out," said the 80-year-old Hilton Head Island retiree. "It was just a joy to see it."

Indeed, the Technicolor creature lives up to its name. With a royal-blue head, bright-red breast and lime-green back, the male painted bunting looks as if it was accidentally dyed when an unsteady artist dropped his neon palette.

But the birds are known for more than just their pretty plumage.

While others rely on groundhogs to forecast a change in the seasons, Lowcountry residents have the painted bunting. Because the birds winter in Florida and Central America and sometimes spend their summers in Beaufort County, sighting a painted bunting in the chilly, early months of the year can be a harbinger of spring.

For the past two decades, it has become a community tradition for the first person to see a painted bunting to call The Island Packet.

Geiger and her husband, Jack, 83, spotted the bird at about 10:30 a.m. Sunday. Their house on Foxbriar Court in Hilton Head Plantation overlooks marsh that is a popular destination for robins, cedar waxwings and buntings, alike.

This isn't the first sighting for the couple. Geiger said she usually sees a painted bunting every year, and she still has the newspaper clipping from 2000, when her first sighting was reported by the Packet.

http://www.islandpacket.com/2011/02/01/1532201/bird-sighting-means-winter-should.html

Bird-spotters flock to see American visitor in Exeter

HUNDREDS of birdwatchers from around Britain homed in on one of the boggiest parts of Exeter – to see a robin.

But this was no ordinary red-breasted bird.

It was an American robin, of a type not seen on these shores for nearly 30 years.

A member of the thrush family, the large songbird was a long way from home after being blown thousand of miles off course. It ended up among the red berries growing in the midst of the picturesque Exminster Marshes.

The rain-swept marsh land proved a home from home after the bird travelled over the Atlantic. And word soon got out that it was in town.


It is thought to be the first American Robin to come to Devon since 1982.

Word of sightings quickly spread among the close-knit bird watching fraternity and hundreds flocked from all over the country to catch a glimpse of the rare visitor.

Excitement was high at times as the bird-watchers, loaded with cameras, tripods, binoculars, telescopes and even sound recording gear, tripped over themselves to get the best views.

Though common in North America, there have been only 24 recorded sightings of the bird in the UK since 1950.

Tony Whitehead, RSPB Press Officer in Exeter, said: "It's quite a rare bird, but when they do turn up Devon and Cornwall are the two places that have the majority of records for the American Robin."

The male seen in Exeter over the weekend is thought to have been swept over to England by the same Atlantic storms that brought torrential rain down on the heads of the bird-watchers.

Mr Whitehead said: "They are migrant birds and fly from North America down to South America in winter. Some get caught up in tropical storms or weather systems and get hurled across the Atlantic."

So far it's been a good year for America in Devon as the robin is the third stateside visitor, with birders spotting an American Golden Plover and Carolina Wood Duck recently.


By Rebecca Lomax

http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Bird-spotters-flock-American-visitor/article-2896910-detail/article.html

Bird-spotters flock to see American visitor in Exeter

HUNDREDS of birdwatchers from around Britain homed in on one of the boggiest parts of Exeter – to see a robin.

But this was no ordinary red-breasted bird.

It was an American robin, of a type not seen on these shores for nearly 30 years.

A member of the thrush family, the large songbird was a long way from home after being blown thousand of miles off course. It ended up among the red berries growing in the midst of the picturesque Exminster Marshes.

The rain-swept marsh land proved a home from home after the bird travelled over the Atlantic. And word soon got out that it was in town.


It is thought to be the first American Robin to come to Devon since 1982.

Word of sightings quickly spread among the close-knit bird watching fraternity and hundreds flocked from all over the country to catch a glimpse of the rare visitor.

Excitement was high at times as the bird-watchers, loaded with cameras, tripods, binoculars, telescopes and even sound recording gear, tripped over themselves to get the best views.

Though common in North America, there have been only 24 recorded sightings of the bird in the UK since 1950.

Tony Whitehead, RSPB Press Officer in Exeter, said: "It's quite a rare bird, but when they do turn up Devon and Cornwall are the two places that have the majority of records for the American Robin."

The male seen in Exeter over the weekend is thought to have been swept over to England by the same Atlantic storms that brought torrential rain down on the heads of the bird-watchers.

Mr Whitehead said: "They are migrant birds and fly from North America down to South America in winter. Some get caught up in tropical storms or weather systems and get hurled across the Atlantic."

So far it's been a good year for America in Devon as the robin is the third stateside visitor, with birders spotting an American Golden Plover and Carolina Wood Duck recently.


By Rebecca Lomax

http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Bird-spotters-flock-American-visitor/article-2896910-detail/article.html