A Wee Bit of Scotland in Canada

 

Common Chaffinch, as its name implies, is quite common in its usual range in Europe and western Asia.  Its quite rare and a real treat to see one in North America!  Photo by Santiago Caballero Cerrea from the Maculary Library at Cornell University.

When a Common Chaffinch was found in a cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in December 1988 it caused quite a stir in the birdwatching world in North America. Although this widespread European and west Asian species had been seen before on this side of the pond earlier, the Halifax bird was the first in decades and best of all it was in an accessible spot.

The usual range of Common Chaffinch is a long way from a cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia

The United States Air Force at Hanscomb Air Force Base in Massachusetts was the mastermind behind a plan to build “Over the Horizon Radar.”  It was a series of metal “nets” that would intercept beams of electricity bounced off the atmosphere. Its purpose was to alert us to the presence of incoming intercontinental ballistic weapons (nuclear warheads) headed for the United States. When OTH radar was complete, the Air Force would be able to warn the American public about Armageddon 20 minutes before it happened. Those extra 15 minutes of breathing time would cost the taxpayer a staggering multi-billion-dollar price tag.

To allow the public this 15 minutes of extra breathing time would require that four OTH radar systems be constructed. One was in a river valley in eastern Alaska. A second was scheduled for the Klamath River valley of Oregon. The third one was going to be built on the prairie of South Dakota and the fourth one would be in the forest of Maine not far from Bangor.

Picture a large net made out of sheep fence that was 2-3 miles wide and 300 feet tall. Now imagine four of them in each of the four locations designated to give us more breathing time. Finally imagine hundreds of millions of birds from Sandhill Cranes to Magnolia Warblers flying through the valley’s where these gigantic nets would be placed and you can already tell this was a bird mortality factor of gargantuan proportions.

Because of research we had done on the effect of man-made structures on bird movements and mortality in the Great Plains I briefly had the title of “expert” on the issue in the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. When the Air Force plan was announced I received phone calls from US Fish and Wildlife Service offices in Anchorage, Alaska, Portland, Oregon, Pierre, South Dakota, and Bangor Maine asking me to travel to their areas to evaluate the places proposed for placement of each bird-killing net designed to let us know we had an extra 15 minutes before we all disintegrated.

In a rare environmental success story, we were able to kill Over the Horizon Radar before it could kill its first bird.

The scheduled review of the site in Maine was in early December 1988 that coincided perfectly with the unsuspected arrival of the Common Chaffinch from somewhere in Europe. The distance from Bangor to Halifax looked close on a map. In reality it was 426 miles (685 kilometers) one way. Driving at a normal speed the bird in Halifax was about 10 hours away from me when I stepped off the plane in Bangor.  I was young, foolish, and had only been to Nova Scotia once before – the ferry terminal in Digby. It seemed logical to chase after this Chaffinch since I was relatively close.

The bird was much farther away than I originally calculated especially when I left Bangor airport at 3:00 pm eastern time. Sunset came around 4:00 pm at this northeasterly location, and Halifax was one hour ahead of Maine.

Its much farther from the Bangor Maine airport to Halifax Nova Scotia than the map suggests it is.  That's especially true in the middle of the night in the middle of winter

I finally arrived in Halifax at 3:30 a.m. Nova Scotia time. I had considered stopping in Truro, Nova Scotia and crashing in a hotel but continued on since coffee was keeping me fortified and the bird was closer with each passing mile. Finding the cemetery in the middle of the night (it was the one where many victims of the sinking of the Titanic were buried) I parked under a tree, curled up in the backseat, and slept a fitful sleep.

About 8:00 a.m. there was a loud banging on my window. Each window was covered with frost from my breath against the frozen night and I expected the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to be checking out this strange person with Maine license plates parked overnight in a cemetery. However, it wasn’t the Mounties. A group of local bird watchers had descended on the cemetery to look for the Chaffinch. One of them opened my door and asked if I was ok. Feeling a bit churlish I said I had traveled there to look for the Chaffinch. The man smiled, pointed straight up from my car, and said “Check here friend!”

I had parked directly beneath the tree that the Chaffinch chose to roost in for the night. From the time I woke up until I had my new bird probably took 20 seconds. I wish all bird chases were that easy.

The Halifax birders shared their jelly donuts and hot coffee with me and gave me hints on other places to look for wintering birds in the Halifax area.

Several years passed before I returned to Halifax and to Nova Scotia. This time I used Delta Frequent Flier miles to fly to Halifax to add the airport to my airport list. I arrived on a late flight and stayed the first night at the Hilton Garden Inn by the airport. Over breakfast at the hotel the next morning I began talking with the server who, on finding out I was American said rather bluntly, “How could you crazy Yanks elect that asshole George W Bush as your president?” Being more disgusted with Bush than she was I told her exactly how I felt about him.

Impressed with my candor the server told me she was going to give me my breakfast complimentary. “Any American who hates George Bush more than I do is an instant friend of mine” she said. Now I wish I could go back to that hotel and tell her how I feel about Donald tRump. She would likely give me the hotel as a gift!

I have now traveled to Nova Scotia 4 times, from Yarmouth at the extreme western point of the island to the spectacular Cape Breton Highlands at the easternmost part of the province. Granted, British Columbia has its spectacular mountains and Churchill has its Polar Bears and Prince Edward Island has to be where the word “quaint” was first coined. I have visited every Canadian province/territory except the Northwest Territories (yes, I have Nunavut) so maybe there is something about the Canadian tundra I am missing. None of what I have seen in Canada is more beautiful to me than Nova Scotia.

Halifax is filled with museums and historic sites and other interesting places to help occupy a few hours while we are there

On our cruise from Iceland to New York City we spend one day at sea off the coast of Nova Scotia and one day in Halifax. We arrive at noon and depart at 8:00 p.m. so our time will be quite limited. There is much to do in Halifax and many historical sites to visit. Maybe, just maybe, I will walk over to the cemetery where I slept to see if the tree I slept under is still there and another Common Chaffinch has found it.