Following the late March appearance of the first Crested Caracara ever sighted in Nova Scotia, another rare avian visitor has turned up in Metro: The Little Egret is an Old World bird similar to North America's Snowy Egret (which itself rarely ventures farther up the Atlantic coastline than Massachusetts). Its European counterpart is a "very rare" visitor to North America, with occasional scattered reports from Newfoundland to Virginia. First sighted on April 21 in a pond along the Shore Road Eastern Passage, the Little Egret was feeding actively but to some observers appeared not "all that healthy." JBD took the photo above...

01 May, 2013

The Crested Caracara (Caracara cheriway), pictured above, is a sluggish member of the falcon family, more prone to scavenging for carrion than fast-flying pursuit of prey. The vulture of the falcon clan, you might say. The map at right shows its normal range, but late this morning, one showed up at Lawrencetown Beach, HRM. I'm not sure if this is the first record in Nova Scotia, but it is certainly rare. Photo: Tom Grey; H/T: JBD...

30 March, 2013