I was excited to get back to Brier Island in the Fall, we hadn't done a September trip since 2020. While not technically Fall, it was the 16th - 18th of the month, as far as the birds were concerned it was definitely Fall migration time. When we were there on a previous trip there were numerous hawks on the island so I was looking forward to photographing hawks in flight. I wasn't disappointed.
I arrived a few hours ahead of Mark, there were only two of us on this trip, and my first thought was to go to the Western Light to see what was there. What caught my attention immediately were the dozen or so American Kestrels hunting in the open areas near the lighthouse. Kestrels are one of my favourite birds with their reddish brown and blue markings and their habit of hovering while they search for prey on the ground. They seemed to be hunting mostly grasshoppers which they would sometimes tear apart and eat on the wing.
Oftentimes they would sit on the wires to rest or in the trees near the sides of the road. They are not very approachable so most of those shots were taken from the car window. There were enough birds in the area that occasionally one would fly close enough for a flight shot if I was on foot.
So that was how the first part of day went. Eventually I met up with Mark and after setting up camp we took a late day trip to Pond Cove to look for shorebirds but without success. The tide wasn't right and because of the lateness of the day we didn't have much time to explore. We did see a Merlin on the way silhouetted in the late day sun.
The next morning we started off with finding and trying to identify some of the Fall warblers on the island. Mark had met up with Judy who had arrived from Ontario to hopefully get some helpful birding advice and a tour of some of the birding spots on the island. We saw several species and were able to identify the majority. While it wasn't the best light for warbler photography - I did take some record shots of Cape May, Bay-breasted and Blackpoll warblers and a Northern Waterthrush as well as more than one Nashville Warbler which I will post here.
While Mark and Judy and her husband Ron went to the Western light I lagged behind and checked out a couple spots on the way. I saw a Broad-winged hawk fly over and a few more warblers. When I got to the lighthouse the Kestrels were still in the area as well as several Northern Harriers, some Sharp-shinned hawks and Merlins. Pretty much right away I noticed one bird that stood out from the rest hanging on the wind blowing in from the ocean .
This is the part of the story that I'm a little embarrassed to tell but I guess it needs telling and should serve as a lesson in not always relying on assumptions. In the weeks leading up to the Brier Island trip there were several reports of Mississippi Kites in south-west Nova Scotia. There was a report of one in Yarmouth a couple days earlier and since I was headed that way I went to see if it was still around. I didn't find it. It is a bird I have never seen although there was a bird several years earlier reported on Brier around the same time we were there. The week previous to this years trip there was a Kite on Brier seen by several people.
So when I saw this bird behaving differently than anything I had witnessed before I naturally assumed it was the Kite. Wrong. But I didn't become aware of that fact until much later when reviewing the pictures I had taken after getting back home and uploading them to my computer. Here is just one of those images.
I tell people that I am a bird photographer first and a birder second which might be a bit unfortunate considering the name I chose for my blog. I often get so wrapped up in taking photos that I often don't take the time to identify what I'm photographing. I am fairly knowledgeable when it comes to identifying local birdlife so it's not usually an issue but when other birders are involved it could be especially if it's something rare. I did tell several people it was a kite and most didn't question my ID although when Mark saw the bird I think he had some reservations. I'm the only one who had the benefit of several dozen images. I'll get back to that bird later.
One bird I am pretty familiar with is the Northern Harrier having monitored a nesting site this past Summer. I think most of the birds that we saw on this trip were juveniles with their reddish breast feathers. In all plumages and sexes the most notable feature is their white rump - evident here.
As mentioned earlier there were a few Sharp-shinned Hawks around and possibly several Merlin.
On the third day on the island which was to be our last, the day dawned cloudy with the threat of rain. With the tide being low and more favourable for finding shorebirds we all headed back to Pond Cove. We were not disappointed. One of the first birds we found were a pair of Buff-breasted Sandpipers - one of my favourites.
Judy mentioned that she and Mark thought at least one was a juvenile and I concurred. In fact I believe they were both juveniles given how clean their back feather edges were, the adults would look more worn at this time of year and I don't believe an adult would allow me as close of an approach as I was able to get.
Other shorebirds present were Sanderlings, Semi-palmated Plovers, a Least and Semi-palmated Sandpiper.
Other birds of note on the trip were Black-legged Kittiwake, adult and juvenile and an Eastern Kingbird.
Bald Eagle gets honourable mention here since the theme is mostly raptors although they are almost always present and I was told they nest on the island.
Getting back to the "mystery" bird once I got home and could see images displayed on a bigger screen I realized I had something different - something other than a kite- but what was it? It was obviously a dark morph of some kind and after pouring over my bird guides and then pulling up some images from the internet, the only thing I could conclude was that it was a dark morph Swainson's Hawk. I had seen Swainson's hawks 30 years ago in Alberta but didn't know how likely a sighting here in NS would be given it's normal range After having it confirmed by serious birders ( thanks Alix), it turns out it's about the 15th recorded sighting in this province. Here are a few more images.
It spent most of it's time when I was observing it hanging in the air like a kite - but maybe not like a Kite - and occasionally dropping to the ground after prey. Which if the Kestrels are any indication was mostly grasshoppers. I have learned that that is fairly typical behaviour for this species.
So that was Brier Island -Fall 2022 - good (and challenging) birds, good company and for the most part good weather. And we saw whales.
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