Birding in ... New Brunswick? v2

For the last two days, I've been in new Brunswick. My dad was there for a summer vacation, and I wanted to help him drive back to Windsor.

I did some quick research before I left about what were some ideal life bird opportunities and my research came up with the following 5 birds:

• Nelson's Sparrow
• Black Guillemot
• Razorbill
• Common Eider
• Northern Gannet

I'm sure there were more, but this was my list.

I flew into Moncton in the southeast corner of the province and was picked up to go towards the northeast corner of the province. Northumberland county.

The main point of the trip was not birding related, and it was hard to go where I wanted to go because other people were driving and I didn't want to burden anyone with my own interests in seeing the ocean birds the area had to offer.

At Val-Comeau beach, I had two target birds: Northern Gannet & Common Eider. I was surprised to get both immediately, I would have been happy with "eider" one! A few terns were present along with Osprey. Black Scoter as well.














In Rivier du Portage, at my relative's cottage, we had gone for a walk in the back field, when I noticed a very fringy flower along the recently mowed path through the knee high grasses. Of course, I knew it was a fringed orchid, but Allen Woodliffe, identified this as a Ragged Fringed Orchid! I've had some good luck this year with three fringed orchid species.

Ragged Fringed Orchid 

Ragged Fringed Orchid

My cousin had purchased a pair of kayaks and I couldn't help but go out for a quick tour of the river. Belted Kingfishers, Osprey, Great Egret, Yellowlegs, Mallards, Song Sparrow & Crows were all seen.

Later on, I was staying in a small town called Paquetville, and I took a quick drive out to Pokeshaw New Brunswick. According to ebird, a Black Guillemot and a Razorbill were seen there in late June of this year!

Luckily, both were still present! Actually, the Razorbill was not noticed on my first effort, and on a chance second visit, I was finally able to see it.

Razorbill at Pokeshaw Rock

A trip to Miscou Island - gave nice views of Bog Habitat! Cotton grass, Huckleberries, Cranberries, Pitcher Plants, Sundew were all seen. There was a bird observation area near the lighthouse which gave looks at distant shorebirds. A little too far to ID, but there seemed to be Dowitcher, Yellowlegs, and Black bellied Plover present.



















On the way home, we took a highway that cut through the middle of the province. It was gorgeous!
While driving along, I couldn't help but notice some Gray Jays along the side of the road. This is only my second time seeing them so I had to stop to take a second look.







Good Birding!

Dwayne