Overnight Friday we stayed in the Highlands National Park once more at
Corney Brook Campground and I enjoyed a short walk just after sunrise on Saturday morning along the cliffs prior to departing.
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| Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) |
The Merlin pair I was lucky enough to photograph during our last stay here were still around and I managed Double-crested Cormorant, Spotted Sandpiper, many Northern Gannet and Black Guillemot along the shore and Slaty Back Junco, Boreal Chickadee, Ovenbird, Red-eyed Vireo and Myrtle Warbler around the wooded areas before heading back for breakfast.
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| Double-crested Cormorant |
The drive back south was quite lucrative and stopping for lunch at Mabou overlooking the lakes we managed a Northern Shoveler, quite a rare summer visitor here apparently, plus Arctic Tern, Willet, American Black Duck, Bald Eagle and Red-tailed Hawk. Before arriving at the crossing a little while later my first Chimney Swift for Canada, plus Northern Harrier, Northern Flicker (Eastern Yellow-Shafted) and Barn Swallow.
We finally said farewell to Cape Breton Island and crossed Canso Causeway, a roadway which crosses the the Strait of Canso, connecting the Island to the Nova Scotia peninsula. Only a short while later we were parked up at
Linwood Harbour Campground for tonight's stop.
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| Magnolia Warbler |
The weather, which had been beautiful all day, broke a short while after our arrival and a brief thunderstorm ensued, which unfortunately Dee and I were caught in, having decided on an evening walk. Being out just after the deluge seemed to spark things off and before we knew it we were surrounded by at least a dozen or so Cedar Waxwings on a feeding frenzy, the trilling almost as loud as the thunder!
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| Blackburnian Warbler ( A 1st For Canada) |
What's more the small flock of Waxwings were accompanied by several other birds feeding away at tree top level. It took Dee and I a while to sort things out but after a good 30 minutes we'd managed to filter out: Purple Finch, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Magnolia Warbler, Black and White Warbler, American Redstart and the real star of the show, our first Blackburnian Warbler for Canada!
