Saturday Aug 24, 2024: Bluff Trail BBQ Bash & Fundraiser

Received from The Bluff Trail/Woodens River folks, members of the Backlands Coalition:

BLUFF BBQ BASH and Trail Stewardship Fundraiser
Saturday, August 24th 11 AM to 3 PM
Canada Games Centre 26 Thomas Randall Drive, Halifax, NS B3S 0E2

Join us for a day of outdoor BBQing and trail community spirit at the Bluff BBQ Bash! We’ll be raising funds for the preservation and maintenance of one of our province’s most cherished natural treasures. Whether you’re an avid user of the trail, simply want give back, or just want to be social, this is an event you won’t want to miss! Continue reading

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This summer our socials are, quite literally, going to the birds…4Aug2024

Black & White Warbler in East-West Pine Islands Ponds area,  May 18, 2023.  Photo credits: Joshua Barss Dunham.  Click on images for larger versions.

This summer our socials are, quite literally, going to the birds…

Ground nesting birds to be precise! Since March, we’ve been featuring 4 species that nest in the Backlands. Today we’re returning to the migratory Black-and-white Warbler:

The males arrive first and are territorial, chasing away other males and even other species! Listen carefully – these guys often return to the same territory year after year, so you may hear the exact same bird you heard last year.   Read More

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Volunteers sought for Invasive Species pull and Lawsons Brook on Thurs. 1Aug2024

Received from the Williams Lake Conservation Company this am (Jul 15):

Click on image for larger version

Come and help the WLCC and Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) remove invasive plant species along Lawson’s Brook in the Shaw Wilderness Park from 9:30 AM-1:00 PM on August 1 (rain date August 2). See poster x for details.

Participants are asked to pre-register with the NCC by contacting Mackenzie.Foster@NatureConservancy.ca.

Hope to see you there!
———————————– Continue reading

Posted in Community, Conservation, Shaw Wilderness Park | Comments Off on Volunteers sought for Invasive Species pull and Lawsons Brook on Thurs. 1Aug2024

News from the Backlands Coalition July 2024

By Martha Leary for the Backlands Coalition
July 14, 2024

With leadership from the Williams Lake Conservation Company (WLCC) the Backlands Coalition (BC) has assembled the “Bird Team”.

In addition to our annual surveys of all birds in the Backlands, our popular social media series on ground-nesting birds and participation in the Bird Friendly Halifax activities, the Bird Team is continuing our 2-year Common Nighthawk Project. Continue reading

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Nighthawks have returned to the Backlands! 5Jul2024

By The Bird Team: Joshua Barss Donham, Fulton Lavender, Cathy Smalley, Katie Studholme. Video by Joshua Barss Donham

Images from Nighthawk Video

Joshua heard the Nighthawk for the first time this year at Osprey Ridge/Alabaster Way Trailhead on May 23; there have been many sightings and recordings since.

Why does this have us all atwitter??

Nighthawk numbers have been in steep decline. It is a Species of Concern Nationally, and a Species At Risk in Nova Scotia, and thereby legally protected under the NS Endangered Species Act.

The Backlands is a special place where they are surviving and raising their young.

Read More…

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Update on Birds in the Backlands – JBD Jun 24, 2024

Hairy Woodpecker (female) on nest cavity May 28, 2024
All Photos on this page by Joshua Barss Donham
Click on images for larger versions

On Hairy Woodpecker & Flicker nests, Hermit Thrush and Barred Owl behaviour, Osprey fishing, Eastern Wood Peewee sighting, Common Nighthawk activity, a bird survey and sounds of toads and beavers in the night,  late spring into early  summer of 2024

Wrote Joshua Barss Donham on June 24, 2024:

I was away for the last few days of May and the first week of June, but the day before I left I visited the Hairy Woodpeckers Nest.

Everything was as it had been when Fulton and I checked it a couple of days before.

Parents were  still visiting the nest cavity with food and the young still could be heard calling out to the parents for more food when the parents were out foraging. Continue reading

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Common Nighthawk is HRM 2024 Bird of the Year 29Jun2024

From presentation by Fulton Lavender & Joshua Barss Donham on Birds in the Backlands: Indicators of the Health of the Habitat (Oct 2022)

It’s not common, it’s not a hawk, and it doesn’t hunt at night, but the Common Nighthawk IS “HRM 2024 Bird of the Year”!

The announcement was made by Jess Lewis on Mainstreet NS in conversation with host Jeff Douglas on June 27.  Jess is Conservation Coordinator for Nature Nova Scotia and Chair of Bird-Friendly Halifax.

The Common Nighthawk is listed as a Species At Risk/Threatened in Nova Scotia. Continue reading

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Golden Heather now in bloom in the Backands 14Jun2024

Wrote  Joshua Barss Donham this am, with pics attached:

“The Golden Heather is now in bloom transforming patches of unassuming scrubby vegetation into carpets of brilliant yellow. A particular patch that I’ve been keeping an eye on, thirty metres so from the AlabasterWay/Osprey Ridge trailhead, was a hub of activity yesterday morning with tricolour bumble bees, honey bees, mason bees, and hover flies congregating … lots of pollinating going on.”

Continue reading

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Ground-nesting birds – let’s talk habitat 9Jun2024

The hardwood slope in this photo (taken mid-May) is a perfect spot for ground-nesting birds/ he approx. location is indicated by the arrow in the map below. 18 May 2023. Palm Warblers were sighted nesting there,  Ovenbirds nearby

By The Bird Team: Joshua Barss Donham, Fulton Lavender, Cathy Smalley, Katie Studholme. Photos by Joshua Barss Donham

June 9, 2024

Over the past few months, we’ve been sharing about ground nesting birds that call the Backlands home. So far we’ve met the Dark-Eyed Junco, the American Woodcock, and the Black-and-white Warbler, with the Common Nighthawk soon to come (hint… not common & not a hawk… stay tuned to learn more…).

But first, let’s talk habitat! Different species of ground nesting birds prefer vastly different habitats, so we’re going to stick to those that frequent the Halifax wilderness area that we call the Backlands.

Read More

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“Song bird season has truly begun” JBD 27May2024

Wrote JBD recently (May 27), with photos and videos attached…

Click on images for larger versions

Yellow-rumped Warbler on Apr, 24, 2024 in the Shaw Wilderness Park

“It has been such a pleasure to watch the return of warblers to the Backlands! The first warbler I crossed paths with in the Backlands this year was a Yellow-rumped Warbler (April 20), heard but not seen, working his way along the upper McIntosh Run. A couple of days later I had my first good look at a bright Yellow-rumped Warbler, fresh from the south, flitting about in the hobblebush that grow on the bank of Lawsons Brook in the Shaw Wilderness Park.
Continue reading

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