Black-bellied Plover

Newfoundland is one of the migratory routes for the Black-bellied Plover. In early September, I got a distant look at one but it was in Tilting, Fogo Island where I got an up-close and personal view of an adult BB Plover and a juvenile. The adult appears to be molting from its summer plumage into its winter plumage.

These birds must frequent this little cove often because while not particularly welcoming to me, they were quite tolerant. As can be seen in most photos, they are walking away, not toward me.

This juvenile Black-bellied Plover fooled me at first. I thought it must be a sandpiper of some sort. Yet, it was too big for most varieties of sandpipers. I began reviewing my field guides and learned that this is a young plover.

The slightly speckled plumage seems to change color depending on the surrounding background.

 There were several juveniles staying close to a pair of adult Black-bellied Plovers as they fed on the exposed beach at low tide.

At one point this little juvenile got a little uncomfortable with me and decided to move to the other side of the cove. This shot offers a good look at the wing pattern in flight.

Blackpoll Warbler

In the weekend Telegram, Bruce Mactavish talked about all of the warblers in the province. He mentioned that 16 regularly frequent the area. To date, I have seen ten of them. They are very colorful, small birds that tend to move around a lot and often do not sit still for a pose. 

I was able to get two pictures of the male Blackpoll on Cochrane Pond Road before it was gone and one shot of a female at Kent Pond about a week earlier.

The Blackpoll Warbler is known for its long-distance non-stop 4000 km flights (day and night) to its winter home in South America.   At first glance it can be mistaken for the Black and White Warbler. However, the Blackpoll in its breeding plumage has a black cap with no white streaking like the B&W.  There is an olive green hue on the wings.

This bird goes through a total transformation to an olive green and yellowish color once breeding season is over.  Both the male and female have pink feet but that seems to be one of the few similarities between the genders.