Chris Peters of Halifax took this photo of an American Tree Sparrow at Grand Pre, King's County, December 28. I am re-posting it here with his permission.  Clicking the image will bring up a larger copy. The seed-eating American Tree Sparrow nests on the tundra from Alaska to Labrador, and winters throughout the continental US, the southern fringes of the prairie provinces and Quebec, and in the southern Maritimes. It's considered common in Nova Scotia in winter. Chris's photo illustrates the species' habit of fluffing out its feathers in cold weather, keeping it warmer and making its plump body look even chubbier. According to...

02 January, 2014

Things went from bad to worse for a young smelt herring in West Pubnico Saturday morning. A common tern and a green crab had their eyes cocked for a meal when he happened by. My guess is that herring and green crab both fulfilled their destinies as breakfast. Nova Scotia Bird Society stalwart Ronnie D'Entremont was on hand to capture the action with this once-in-a-lifetime shot. Nova Scotia has a lot of wonderful nature photographers, but Ronnie ranks with the best. Photo copyright ©2013 by Ronnie D'Entremont. Reproduced by permission. All rights reserved.  Click the image for a higher-res version....

22 July, 2013

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