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CANADA - PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

9 - 13 November 2001

by Paul Jones

My wife and I spent the Remembrance Day long weekend in Prince Edward Island.  We rented a cottage near East Point and hiked, drove and birded the northeast coast of the Island.  Bird highlights included Harlequin Duck, Purple Sandpiper and Western Kingbird.

Friday, November 9

Arrived Charlottetown late evening.

Saturday, November 10

Charlottetown to East Point.  Side trip to Souris and Black Pond.

Weather:  2 to 5 degrees, strong SW wind, mostly sunny, occasional broken cloud.

We arrived at East Point light around noon.  There were a thousand or so sea ducks there, mostly Common Eider, but also good numbers of Long-tailed Duck, Black Scoter and White-winged Scoter.  There were hundreds of Northern Gannets as well. 

The most interesting sightings were one Leach’s Storm Petrel, one drake Harlequin Duck and four Purple Sandpiper.  The Sandpipers were on the rock shelf immediately below the point.  Small flocks of White-winged Crossbill were flying in off the sea from the northeast.  While it is possible that they were local birds blown out over the water, my strong sense was that they were coming across from Cape Breton or Newfoundland. The birds could be seen at a distance over the water and they were moving fast and low towards land.  At they approached the shore they would rise up at the last second to barely clear the seaside cliffs and then immediately disappear into the coastal tuckamore.

A trip to Black Pond near Souris in the late afternoon yielded Black Duck, Common Merganser, Common Goldeneye and Greater Scaup.

Sunday, November 11

East Point to Prince Edward Island National Park to Indian River and return.

Weather: 0 to 3 degrees. Rain and snow all day, strong E wind.

We arrived at East Point at 7:30 a.m.  Strong east winds and blowing snow and rain made viewing conditions difficult.  The highlight at the point was two Harlequin Duck (both drakes).  After leaving the point we headed west along the north coast of the Island and eventually made our way to Indian River.  At Long Pond, Prince Edward Island National Park, there was a good collection of waterfowl including twenty five Ring-necked Duck, fifty Greater Scaup, two Lesser Scaup, four Bufflehead and four Hooded Merganser.  At Indian River (at Highway 106) there was a flock of twenty seven Gadwall.

Monday, November 12

East Point to Rollo Bay to Souris and return.

Weather: -2 to 2 degrees.  Strong NW wind, snow squalls alternating with sunny breaks.

We arrived East Point at 7 a.m.  A half hour sea watch revealed one Harlequin Duck (drake) and one Razorbill.  A few White-winged Crossbill were still coming in off the water. After the sea watch we walked towards the beach that lies northwest of the light. 

In the first trees back from the light, a strange bird flashed up and was gone.  It looked interesting so I searched the area for about ten minutes with no success.  We continued our walk towards the beach and the same bird zipped by again, heading back towards the light.  It was a tyrannus flycatcher with a pale gray head, small bill and yellow underparts - probably a Western Kingbird.  I ran after it, all the way back to the light and searched around for another half hour.  No sign of the bird.  We set out again for the beach.  The bird reappeared, this time hunting over the kelp and rockweed beds below the low cliffs.  This provided excellent dorsal views at close range, including good looks at its black tail with white outer edges.  Western Kingbird!  It posed in a snow dusted spruce for a number of photographs and reappeared throughout our morning visit to the point.  An exciting find, but rather sad.  Although it was flying strongly, its wings drooped heavily when it perched.  That night it dropped well below zero and the next day a near blizzard hit the area.

Tuesday, November 13

East Point to Charlottetown. 

Weather:  -4 to -2 degrees, heavy snow, strong NW wind.

We awoke 6:30 a.m. and there was lots of snow on the ground and more coming down.  We drove to East Point in near white-out conditions.  At the point the weather conditions were so extreme that it was impossible to bird and we were worried about getting snowed in.  We quickly left the area and drove to Charlottetown.  The most interesting sightings of the morning were four flocks of Bohemian Waxwing along Route 16 from East Point to St. Peters.  Each group numbered between twenty and forty birds.  That they were apparent in the near blizzard conditions on the Tuesday, and not seen on the proceeding days in better conditions, suggests that they may not have arrived on the Island until the 12th or 13th.

General Observations

We stayed at the Brynn Cottage in Priest Pond, about fifteen minutes from East Point and an hour from Charlottetown.   There were few tourists about, so we had East Point and the beaches to ourselves - a peaceful trip.

Annotated Trip List

1. Red-throated Loon - maximum daily count three - 10/11/01 - always present off East Point
2. Common Loon - one - East Point - 10/11/01
3. Red-necked Grebe - maximum daily count two - 10/11/01 - always present off East Point
4. Leach’s Storm-Petrel - one - East Point - 10/11/01
5. Northern Gannet - common at East Point - maximum daily count two hundred - 10/11/01
6. Double-crested Cormorant - maximum daily count three - 10/11/01 - East Point
7. Great Cormorant - one - Covehead Bay - 11/11/01
8. Great Blue Heron - maximum daily count four - 11/11/01 - North Lake, Covehead Bay, Rollo Bay
9. Canada Goose - common - large flocks at Souris, Rollo Bay, Fortune Bay, Greenwich
10. Gadwall - twenty seven - Indian River (at Highway 106) - 11/11/01
11. American Wigeon - two - Indian River (at Highway 106) - 11/11/01
12. American Black Duck - common - flocks on all ponds and estuaries
13. Mallard - small numbers accompanying Black Ducks
14. Northern Pintail - one - Fortune Bay - 12/11/01
15. Green-winged Teal - two - Long Pond, PEI National Park - 11/11/01
16. Ring-necked Duck -  maximum daily count twenty - Long Pond, PEI National Park - 11/11/01
17. Greater Scaup - maximum daily count fifty - Long Pond, PEI National Park- 11/11/01
18. Lesser Scaup - two - Long Pond, PEI National Park - 11/11/01
19. Common Eider - abundant at East Point - maximum daily count five hundred - 10/11/01
20. Harlequin Duck - maximum daily count two - 11/11/01 - present on the 10th, 11th and 12th off East Point
21. White-winged Scoter- maximum daily count twenty five - 10/11/01 - always present off East Point
22. Black Scoter - common at East Point - maximum daily count seventy five - 10/11/01
23. Long-tailed Duck - abundant at East Point - maximum daily count three hundred - 10/11/01
24. Bufflehead - maximum daily count twelve - 12/11/01 - Rollo Bay
25. Common Goldeneye - common - small numbers off East Point, large flocks at Rollo Bay, Black Pond
26. Hooded Merganser - maximum daily count twelve - Black Pond - 12/11/01 - also four at Long Pond and Indian River - 11/11/01
27. Common Merganser - common - thirty at Black Pond - 12/11/01
28. Red-breasted Merganser - common - Rollo Bay, Covehead Bay
29. Bald Eagle - maximum daily count three - 11/11/01- seen at East Point, Fortune Bay, Greenwich and Grand Tracadie
30. Sharp-shined Hawk - maximum daily count three - 10/11/01 - seen each day in East Point area.
31. Ruffed Grouse - one - Route 16 at North Lake - 11/11/01
32. Black-bellied Plover - two - Grand Tracadie - 11/11/01
33.Greater Yellowlegs - two - Souris - 10/11/01 - three - Covehead Bay - 11/11/01
34. Sanderling - fifteen - Covehead Bay - 11/11/01
35. White-rumped Sandpiper - twenty five - Covehead Bay - 11/11/01
36. Purple Sandpiper - four - 10/11/01 - East Point
37. Dunlin - one - Souris - 10/11/01
38. Bonaparte’s Gull - common - maximum daily count three hundred -12/11/01 - always present off East Point
39. Ring-billed Gull - common
40. Herring Gull - abundant
41. Iceland Gull - uncommon - maximum daily count fifteen - 12/11/01 - East Point
42. Greater Black-backed Gull - abundant
43. Razorbill - one - East Point - 12/11/01
44. Black Guillemot - maximum daily count six - 11/11/01 - always present off East Point
45. Rock Dove - common
46. Mourning Dove - maximum daily count five - 13/11/01 - Greenwich
47. Downy Woodpecker - one - Sally Beach - 12/11/01
48. Northern Flicker - one - East Point - 10/11/01
49. WESTERN KINGBIRD - one - East Point - 12/11/01
50. Gray Jay - one - along Route 16 at Naufrage Pond - 10/11/01
51. Blue Jay - abundant
52. American Crow - abundant
53. Common Raven - common
54. Black-capped Chickadee - common
55. Boreal Chickadee - common
56. Red-breasted Nuthatch - two - PEI National Park - 11/11/01 - five - Sally Beach - 12/11/01
57. Golden-Crowned Kinglet - common
58. American Robin - uncommon - maximum daily count six - 12/11/01
59. Starling - abundant
60. Bohemian Waxwing - four flocks, twenty to forty birds - Route 16 East Point to St. Peters - 13/11/01
61. American Tree Sparrow - one - Rollo Bay - 12/11/01
62. Song Sparrow - uncommon - maximum daily count three - 12/01/01
63. White-throated Sparrow - one - East Point - 11/11/01
64. Dark-eyed Junco - three - East Point - 10/11/01
65. Lapland Longspur - five - East Point - 10/11/01
66. Snow Bunting - two flocks of fifty - East Point Beach, Fortune Bay - 12/11/01
67. Pine Grosbeak - individuals at East Point and Black Pond (11/11/01), Greenwich (13/11/01)
68. White-winged Crossbill - common at East Point - maximum count two hundred (10/11/01)
69. Pine Siskin - one - East Point - 13/11/01
70. American Goldfinch - one - St. Peter’s - 11/11/01
71. Evening Grosbeak - six - at feeder in St. Peter’s - 13/11/01
72. House Sparrow - common

Paul Jones
306-159 Murray Street, Ottawa, ON  
K1N 5M7
jones@caut.ca