Marni Gent had a bright yellow bird for two to three weeks at Garden Lots, which was a Baltimore oriole. Hopefully it has gone to a warmer location.

 Jack Spence of West LaHave also has had a Baltimore oriole since the first week of November. This bird is still healthy and is enjoying apples and a mixture of grapes, cherries and a birdseed of dried fruit, with apple suet on the side.

 At Kingsburg Beach, David Walmark located four killdeer, nine sanderlings and a long-tailed duck. David also discovered a large group of ring-necked ducks on Hirtles Pond, which dwindled to 12 birds.

 Stan Smith has had an American kestrel at Beach Hill Road in Kingsburg. I was pleased to see six American pipits and a northern harrier at Kingsburg Beach. In Lower Rose Bay, 27 black-headed gulls and a ring-billed gull were a treat.

 Mandy Eisenhauer of Rhodes Corner was pleased to have some evening grosbeaks. Heather Tunnah of Laconia has lots of birds, such as red-breasted nuthatches, dark-eyed juncos, a barred owl, a hairy and downy woodpecker and two American robins. Ronald Hirtle of East LaHave also had an American robin. These birds are very scarce this winter.

 While participating in three Christmas bird counts and looking around locally, I did not locate even one American robin. Steven Hiltz tells me of 25 hooded mergansers at Back Centre and he also had a northern flicker visit. Eileen Morrison was visited by white-winged crossbills at Broad Cove.

 Janice Kenefick of Riverport has been studying two separate groups of black-capped chickadees. One group squabbles a lot. Out of the two groups, one forages in the woods a lot and the other one spends most of its time in the garden. Janice sent a photograph of American goldfinches feeding on evening primrose seeds into the Audubon Society for a contest, which resulted in a seventh-place prize of a 2011 planner. Canada geese have moved to Riverport and on Christmas Day 303 were present.

 In Lunenburg, Mike Taylor was kayaking and spotted a dozen or so small gulls. His description is that they were feeding like terns, dropping onto the surface with the head striking below the water and then floating long enough to swallow. The legs of these gulls were all black. Grey under the wings suggests Bonaparte gulls.

 Mike also had a bird off Blue Rocks, which sounds like a black guillemot in winter plumage. As well, he noted a large gathering of American crows on Masons Island. From his description it sounds like the crows gather there before heading off to their winter roost for the night. These crows used to go to Cross Island, but something has changed and the winter roost now seems to be inland somewhere.

 Barb and Ted O'Kroneg saw a large group of common mergansers on Blysteiner Lake. Anne Hughes is in Mahone Bay, visiting from Newfoundland. She reports a black scoter in the bay and one black guillemot.

 Joyce Allen told me that the rusty blackbird has been returning every now and then to her feeders in Mahone Bay. I saw this bird at another location nearby. Joyce also had 12 pine siskins and a common grackle. A walk around the block also produced five red-winged blackbirds. Some lucky person at Clearland had 52 pine siskins, a blackpoll warbler and a pine warbler at their feeder.

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 Dorothy Poole and I did a route from Woods Harbour to Barrington Passage on the Barrington Christmas Bird Count. Highlights were two American pipits, a fox sparrow, a Baltimore oriole, four swamp sparrows, a belted kingfisher and a double-crested cormorant.

 Dorothy Poole, Sylvia Fullerton and I participated in the Lockeport Christmas Bird Count and we had 40 dunlins, a Bonaparte gull, two glaucous gulls, two brown creepers, two winter wrens, a hermit thrush and a common redpoll as highlights.

 Christmas bird counts elsewhere brought yellow-throated warblers, Eurasian wigeons, American coots, sanderlings, purple sandpipers, a greater white-fronted goose, pine warblers, a lark sparrow, a bobolink, yellow-breasted chats, a pied-billed grebe, an ovenbird, a black and white warbler, a redhead and a brown-headed cowbird.

 Mike O'callaghan reported a red crossbill to me from Shelburne. Janet Quinn of Lower Economy had a rare Say's phoebe.

 Reach me at jrhbirder@hotmail.com or phone 764-2182.

posted on 01/04/11