Common Nighthawks were out day hawking in Shelburne County yesterday, a sure sign that it won't be long before they're off south. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching

Did a Bay of Fundy trip with Petit Passage Whale Tours. Lots of Wilson's but not many shearwaters. Phalaropes are arriving, but with no real numbers yet. In a few weeks there'll be 10000+ - no typo. I didn't know about this until I moved to Nova Scotia. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching

Boreal Chickadee, an erratic visitor to our Cape Sable Island NS yard these days and probably because there's sod all control on development, meaning territories get hacked down. Won't be long before they're gone. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching

Very much our default summer shearwater, we managed 614 Greats on our little offshore jaunt, Jul-11th. For anyone visiting, a good way to connect with seabirds is to do a Brier Island Whale Watch tour. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching

Sooty Shearwaters are present annually off Cape Sable Island NS, May through September and sometimes later. A rough ratio would be one in every fifty Greats. This was one of fifteen see offshore on Jul-12th. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching.

I had an idea. What if the Galactic Management Committee were every bit as incompetent as we are? If so, then they'd naturally follow the tried and tested method of hiring somebody to blame. In Harvesting Kerry Peters they may have made a big mistake. #Booksky #Books #Scifi

A friend has a small boat that's great for going offshore when conditions allow. We counted 247 Wilson's Storm-Petrels out there in very slick conditions. Off Baccaro, Shelburne County NS. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching

Cape Island had a good day for seabird 8th July. I've never seen so many, so close. I quite like the eBird trip report feature for making a quick day summary. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching ebird.org/tripreport/5...

Short-billed Dowitchers are pouring in after having made a few more to the north of Nova Scotia. I had a little ride around doing counts, over 500 on Cape Sable Island so far. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching

We have no idea why, every year, multiple Yellow-crowned Night-Herons suddenly opt for a break in Nova Scotia around now. This one was in one of my Cape Island spots, mostly we get immature birds so an adult is a treat. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching

Not depressed enough yet? 99c will take you to another level and not just because some of it goes to Amazon. I live where this will happen, it was what inspired me to write it. This might be a work of fiction, or it might be prophetic. I'd say 'who knows?', but science does. #Books #Booksky #Authors

Getting a Cape Island tick is always nice, it's even better when it's in the yard. Great Crested Flycatcher in Nova Scotia tends to be limited to a few pairs in the Annapolis Valley, in Shelbourne they're pretty rare. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching

From 1994, Am Oystercatcher was been restricted to Cape Sable Island, NS in Summer, c5 years ago they started to wander. Finally got them in the next door county of Yarmouth 23-jun. Only the 2nd county record. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching

While on our mini break to Cape Breton, this Scissor-tailed Flycatcher showed up close to home. A new Shelburne County bird for me (where it matters) and great to watch. Always distant hence the image. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching

We only see Mourning Warbler as a scarce passage migrant in the south of Nova Scotia. Once you get to Cape Breton they are a common summer breeder. Always good to see. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching

Nice to see a White Ibis in Nova Scotia, finally. This bird chose a small park in Glace Bay, Cape Breton and provided the ideal excuse to take a few days vacation and explore new areas. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching

Always a late arrival, Nelson's Sparrows are now 'hissing' from anywhere around the coast with suitable habitat. If you hiss back, sometimes they'll jump out of the grass and onto a post for a better look. Yarmouth NS. #Birds #Birdwatching #Birding

Nice to look out of the window and see a Red-bellied Woodpecker in the yard, my second here this year. These are scarce in southern Nova Scotia, although it probably breeds sparingly. #Birds #Birdwatching #Birding #NovaScotia

Olive-sided Flycatchers have finally shown up in southern Nova Scotia, about ten days behind the rest of the province. Great to watch this one yapping locally. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching #Novascotia

Who'd have predicted the recent European Robin in Canada? Actually, I did in one of my birding stories in The Frigatebird, my first Nova Scotia birder mystery. It's not my only prediction, the rest are in the now seven book series that costs pennies. #Books #Novascotia #Booksky #Birders

A Laughing Gull on Cape Sable Island, NS, today. We get one or two annually, more if we get a bit of weather like a hurricane. I think 147 for Cape Island this year, so far. I usually hit 200+ species. #Birds #Birds #Birding

Birding by dirt bike, Ibiza, I think 1982. The binoculars weighed more than the bike.

Our spluttering spring in southern Nova Scotia continues but at least the determined birds are arriving. This is a newly arrived Chestnut-sided Warbler that wasn't in this spot two days earlier. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching

My eBird Global Big Day hit 85 late on with a Chimney Swift. After birding the woods at dawn I returned home to find this yard tick Orchard Oriole. As usual I stuck to Shelburne County and, thankfully, there were no other rarity distractions from elsewhere. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching #eBird

It's been an unsettled start to May but you go with what you get. Looking at last year, I'm a little behind but migration has been slow with what does arrive going 'straight in'. At this rate, the forthcoming eBird 'big day' won't be. At least the ducks are showy. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching

As a self-published author I try to give value. At just $1.99CAD for the eBook, Cuckoo is a birder love story with a twist, but then aren't they all? #Books #Booksky #Authors #Writingcommunity

This migrant Scarlet Tanager paused at a local yard this morning, letting me get a few shots. Obviously hungry, it ignored me while I used my 800mm lens to give it space. A scarce breeder in Nova Scotia, always one to enjoy. #Birds #Birding #Birder

We barely got a Little Blue Heron in Nova Scotia last year, so an adult at Pubnico today was enjoyable. A bit distant, but I managed a photo. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching

The Willets are back Ted! Niche joke, it helps if you've watched Father Ted. Two at Pubnico Point in Yarmouth County this morning were my earliest for Nova Scotia by four days. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching

I found myself in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia again, just in time to jam in on a drake King Eider, only the second county record. Initially it was 1km or more away, but we shivered and waited and it slowly paddled our way. Taken with my new travel camera, the Nikon P1100. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching