The Snowy Owl movements are a function of the tundra population of lemmings. Unfortunately this does not affect Nova Scotia so much as the central provinces, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and the adjoining states due to the natural movement of birds in the central flyway.

The Snowy Owl appears most years in Nova Scotia, often on Cape Sable Island and the adjoining islets and often at Hartlen Point. I've seen them in Crystal Crescent Beach Provincial Park.

They are our biggest owls by weight and will predate other owls. In Manitoba a reliable place to find them in winter was by the chicken processing plants and around Oak Hammock Marsh.

Snowy Owl

The Northern Shoveler was one of the first ducks to return after a Manitoba winter. Laura and I would go to Oak Hammock Marsh, north of Winnipeg, one of the world's premier birding locations to look for this duck. It would be in the roadside ditches that were just clearing of ice while the marsh itself was still frozen solid. We had a bond with this bird.

In Nova Scotia the Northern Shoveler is an uncommon regular. Its a duck that's sometimes hard to find but it has a habit of appearing in the oddest places,.........like roadside ditches.

Northern Shoveler

The Say's Phoebe has been a challenge for me. I've encountered the bird more than once and interestingly the best photographs are from the poorest equipment. Everything has to do with good light! 

Say's Phobe

The Northern Saw-whet Owl is our smallest owl and unless you hear it calling, usually at dusk, it can be hard to find. Its widespread and uncommon and most migrate in the late fall but a few over-winter. It's larger cousin the Boreal Owl can also be found in the spring and winter but most head further north in the spring migration to the Cape Breton Highlands and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Both of these small owl species have been found in my neighborhood of Portuguese Cove.

Northern Saw-whet Owl

The Musquodoboit River winds slowly through the Musquodoboit valley, sometimes rushing along but always photogenic, until it reaches the Atlantic Ocean and the village of Musquodoboit Harbour. I often visit this river in the fall when the colours are bright and the air is crisp. It's my last outdoors hoorah before winter.

The lack of canoes and kayaks surprises me because as a former paddler this river is as good as it gets.

Musquodoboit River

The Ipswich Sparrow is a wholly Canadian bird with almost the entire world wide population breeding on Sable Island off the coast of Nova Scotia. A few breed in the coastal sand dunes of Nova Scotia.

There are some folks who think the Ipswich Sparrow and the Savannah Sparrow are the same bird. I suspect that these folks have never gone into the field to study the bird. The Ipswich Sparrow has been studied by experts and the results published with the intent of separating it from the Savannah Sparrow, without success. It is larger than the Savannah Sparrow, is lighter in colour, has a different song and most importantly behaves differently.

I suspect the folks who stubbornly cling to the notion that the Ipswich Sparrow is a Savannah Sparrow are the same folks who named it after a coastal village in the United States. It should be known as the Sable Island Sparrow.

Ipswich Sparrow

The Orange-crowned Warbler winters in North America along both coasts but will only survive our winters here in Nova Scotia with human assistance, mainly suet. We've had the Yellow-rumped Warbler and the Orange-crowned Warbler successfully overwinter at our place. We almost saved a Yellow-breasted Chat but I believe it perished in February possibly due to predation. An overwintering bird is easier prey due to its frantic search for food and the need to take greater risks to get it. The Cornell Labs range maps are wrong for the Orange-crowned Warbler.

Orange-crowned Warbler

The Hairy Woodpecker like its smaller lookalike cousin the Downy Woodpecker is common and widespread in Nova Scotia. It stays all winter and happily works the suet and peanut feeders at your feeding station.

Hairy Woodpecker

The Downy Woodpecker is our smallest woodpecker and is common and widespread in Nova Scotia. Its a reliable feeder bird and stays all winter. Its bill is about one half the length of its head whereas its larger lookalike the Hairy Woodpecker has a bill almost as long as its head. This is a handy tip to identify these woodpeckers at a distance.

The Laughing Gull is an annual regular to Nova Scotia and common during weather events that drag reluctant birds north from the Atlantic coast of the United States. It is versatile and tough so the Laughing Gull usually survives these weather events.

Laughing Gull

The Golden-crowned Kinglet is a challenge to photograph not because its shy but because its in constant motion flitting and hopping all the while chipping its happy song.

My camera has snappy autofocus but the problem is finding the little guy in the viewfinder before it moves on, snappy autofocus or not.

It is a year round resident often in company with the Brown Creeper.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

The Dovekie is the smallest of our alcids, slightly larger than a American Robin. Finding one bobbing about in the surf can be tricky. To photograph them well take or rent a zodiac or punt and drift in one of our protected coastal bays where they are feeding. Eventually with patience one will pop up beside your boat and "wallah". I have never taken my own advice.

A neighbour of ours told us of a small bird flopping about in their front yard. Laura and I rushed over and I picked up a Dovekie and held it in my lap as we drove to Ketch Harbour where I dropped it in the water from a wharf. It happily took a shower spraying water everywhere and commenced to fishing. It stayed in the area for several days. For unknown reasons this photographer did not take any photos-phooey!

The Dovekie is a diver so its legs are positioned well back on the body. This results in the necessity for a long take off run from the water and an impossible take off from land. Wind, weather and exhaustion sometimes force these little divers onto land where they are helpless. Just pick them up and drop them in the nearest salt water.

Dovekie

The Iceland Gull is a winter regular in Nova Scotia found along our eastern and southern coasts often in large numbers. My empirical observation suggests that most of the over-wintering Iceland Gulls in the Halifax area are immature. Pure white adults are hard to find.

They can be seen in flocks hovering over the surf on sandy beaches and along the adjacent shore. 

Iceland Gull