Date: 04/18/2001

Number: 1

In PEI just beyond the border, there was only restricted bare ground all the way to Charlottetown, almost exclusively on the prevailing windward (E) side of the highway, in agricultural land and around buildings. I noticed groups of Am. Robins and began to tally them in 10s, 20s, 50s, and 100s, at a glance, and came up with a grand on-route total of 10,600 along about 100 km (60 mi) of road!

I don't think these were a stalled wave of northbound migrants. I stopped a few times, and among a couple of hundred scanned birds, only two or three were marginally "black-backed," and could well be local birds. Rather, I think they were regional birds that had returned and were using the only available foraging terrain in an otherwise wintery landscape.

On the way back from Charlottetown, with accumulating sleet on the road, all the bare patches were covered. "And what will the robin do then, the poor thing."

Charlottetown, PE

Latitude: 46.3 Longitude: -63.1

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