Look up! Look down! At Sable Island National Park Reserve, a 70-minute flight southeast of Halifax, we learned to look skyward as well as on the ground to appreciate the 350 bird species found here. Herring gulls soared above us and cautiously watched us from their nests on the sand. By our feet, we spotted herring gull footprints and a broken-open gull egg, speckled with brown, grey and black spots. Sable Island has two colonies of roseate terns, which also nest on the ground. They are listed as endangered in Canada, with fewer than a dozen breeding pairs. Angry birds − not the online game When we viewedMain Station, near the location of one colony, Parks Canada staff did not allow us to approach the buildings. “Terns nesting in the heath will dive-bomb you if you get too close. They aggressively protect their nests from people who may trample them and from gulls that try to eat their eggs.” In northern Manitoba, we also had to scan the ground carefully to see ptarmigans eating seeds from tiny bushes. With plumage as white as the snow around them, we could only see the birds when they moved their black eyes and beaks. The pigeon-sized male displays two graceful tail feathers nearly twice the length of its body. A crimson breast contrasts vividly with its lustrous green plumage. When we joined a tour at Savegre Hotel, we received a checklist of 170 bird species. After four hours of hiking, we returned to the hotel with checkmarks next to 80 birds − but no quetzal. To our surprise, we noticed several birdwatchers peering into scopes, gazing at a splendid male quetzal just metres from our lodging. He let us admire him for a few precious minutes and then vanished like an apparition, leaving only the glint of the sun on his luminous green tail feathers. Numerous trails in Everglades National Park, an hour fromMiami, offer opportunities to view more than 300 bird species. From the Eco Pond Trail, we observed several snowy egrets. On the Anhinga Trail boardwalk through a sawgrass marsh, we spotted an anhinga, perched on a branch holding its wings out to dry like a cape. (Anhingas’ feathers lack oil, so they must dry them after fishing before they can fly again.) Ptarmigan eats seeds from tiny bush in snow Flying herring gull, Sable Island National Park Reserve Scarlet ibis Anhinga spreads out wings to dry CSANews | SPRING 2022 | 15 Travel
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