Playing time: CD 1 : 1:00:57 90 tracks CD 2 : 59:59 84 tracks all rights reserved
CISS 978-1-926866-07-9

NR17 Tracklist
Bird Songs of Eastern Canada
Chants d’oiseaux de l’est du Canada
By John Neville
CD#1
1.Introduction
2. One: Backyard Birds Oiseaux des jardins
3. Black-capped Chickadee Mésange à tête noire
4. American Robin Merle d'Amérique
5. Blue Jay Geai bleu
6. American Goldfinch Chardonneret jaune
7. European Starling Étourneau sansonnet
8. House Sparrow Moineau domestique
9. Northern Flicker Pic flamboyant
10. Cedar Waxwing Jaseur d'Amérique
11. Purple Finch Roselin pourpré
12. Dark-eyed Junco Junco ardoisé
13. Mourning Dove Tourterelle triste
14. Two: Boreal Forest Forêt boréale
15. Lincoln's Sparrow Bruant de Lincoln
16. White-throated Sparrow Bruant à blanche gorge
17. Red-breasted Nuthatch Sittelle à poitrine rousse
18. Chipping Sparrow Bruant familier
19. Winter Wren Troglodyte mignon
20. Ruffed Grouse Gélinotte huppée
21. White-winged Crossbill Bec-croisé bifascié
22. Boreal Chickadee Mésange à tête brune
23. Great Horned Owl Grand-duc d'Amérique
24. Northern Saw-whet Owl Petite Nyctale
25. Boreal Owl Nyctale de Tengmalm
26. Barred Owl Chouette rayée
27. Downy Woodpecker Pic mineur
28. Hairy Woodpecker Pic chevelu
29. Black-backed Woodpecker Pic à dos noir
30. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Pic maculé
31. Yellow-rumped Warbler Paruline à croupion jaune
32. Ovenbird Paruline couronnée
33. Black-and-white Warbler Paruline noir et blanc
34. Mourning Warbler Paruline triste
35. American Redstart Paruline flamboyante
36. Magnolia Warbler Paruline à tête cendrée
37. Tennessee Warbler Paruline obscure
38. Black-throated Green Warbler Paruline à gorge noire
39. Black-throated Blue Warbler Paruline bleue
40. Blackburnian Warbler Paruline à gorge orangée
41. Bay-breasted Warbler Paruline à poitrine baie
42. Pine Warbler Paruline des pins
43. Red-eyed Vireo Viréo aux yeux rouges
44. Philadelphia Vireo Viréo de Philadelphie
45. American Crow Corneille d'Amérique
46. Common Raven Grand Corbeau
47. Merlin Faucon émerillon
48. Red-tailed Hawk Buse à queue rousse
49. Veery Grive fauve
50. Gray-cheeked Thrush Grive à joues grises
51. Hermit Thrush Grive solitaire
52. Swainson's Thrush Grive à dos olive
53. Bicknell's Thrush Grive de Bicknell
54. Olive-sided Flycatcher Moucherolle à côtés olive
55. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Moucherolle à ventre jaune
56. Eastern Phoebe Moucherolle phébi
57. Ruby-crowned Kinglet Roitelet à couronne rubis
58. Golden-crowned Kinglet Roitelet à couronne dorée
59. Brown Creeper Grimpereau brun
60. American Red Squirrel Écureuil roux d’Amérique
61. Three: Deciduous or Mixed Acadian Forest Forêt acadienne (peuplements mixtes ou à feuilles caduques)
62. Northern Parula Paruline à collier
63. Chestnut-sided Warbler Paruline à flancs marron
64. Cape May Warbler Paruline tigrée
65. Canada Warbler Paruline du Canada
66. Indigo Bunting Passerin indigo
67. White-breasted Nuthatch Sittelle à poitrine blanche
68. Northern Mockingbird Moqueur polyglotte
69. Great Crested Flycatcher Tyran huppé
70. Least Flycatcher Moucherolle tchébec
71. Eastern Kingbird Tyran tritri
72. Eastern Wood-Pewee Pioui de l'Est
73. House Wren Troglodyte familier
74. Rose-breasted Grosbeak Cardinal à poitrine rose
75. Eastern Towhee Tohi à flancs roux
76. Eurasian Collared-Dove Tourterelle turque
77. Four: Grasslands and Barrens Près, prairies, tourbières et plateaux rocailleux
78. Savannah Sparrow Bruant des prés
79. Bobolink Goglu des prés
80. Ring-necked Pheasant Faisan de Colchide
81. Fox Sparrow Bruant fauve
82. Horned Lark Alouette hausse-col
83. American Pipit Pipit d'Amérique
84. Northern Wheatear Traquet motteux
85. Palm Warbler Paruline à couronne rousse
86. Blackpoll Warbler Paruline rayée
87. Rock Ptarmigan Lagopède alpin
88. Willow Ptarmigan Lagopède des saules
89. Northern Harrier Busard Saint-Martin
90. Short-eared Owl Hibou des marais
End of CD#1




CD#2

91. Five: Fresh Water Marshes and Riparian Wetlands Marais et terres humides riveraines
92. American Bittern Butor d'Amérique
93. Sandhill Crane Grue du Canada
94. Pied-billed Grebe Grèbe à bec bigarré
95. Red-winged Blackbird Carouge à épaulettes
96. Common Grackle Quiscale bronzé
97. Wilson's Snipe Bécassine de Wilson
98. Northern Waterthrush Paruline des ruisseaux
99. Wilson's Warbler Paruline à calotte noire
100. Common Yellowthroat Paruline masquée
101. Yellow Warbler Paruline jaune
102. Swamp Sparrow Bruant des marais
103. Song Sparrow Bruant chanteur
104. Alder Flycatcher Moucherolle des aulnes
105. Tree Swallow Hirondelle bicolore
106. Virginia Rail Râle de Virginie
107. Yellow Rail Râle jaune
108. Black Tern Guifette noire
109. Marsh Wren Troglodyte des marais
110. Gray Catbird Moqueur chat
111. Hooded Merganser Harle couronné
112. Black-billed Cuckoo Coulicou à bec noir
113. Northern Spring Peeper Rainette crucifère
114. Bullfrog Ouaouaron
115. Green Frog Grenouille verte
116. Tetraploid Gray Treefrog Rainette versicolore
117. American Toad Crapaud d'Amérique
118. Six: Lakes and Rivers Lacs et rivières
119. Red-necked Grebe Grèbe jougris
120. Mallard Canard colvert
121. American Black Duck Canard noir
122. Common Merganser Grand Harle
123. Osprey Balbuzard pêcheur
124. Bald Eagle Pygargue à tête blanche
125. Belted Kingfisher Martin-pêcheur d'Amérique
126. Snow Goose Oie des neiges
127. Canada Goose Bernache du Canada
128. Common Loon Plongeon huard
129. Spotted Sandpiper Chevalier grivelé
130. Green Heron Héron vert
131. Seven: Saltwater Marsh Marais salés
132. Killdeer Pluvier kildir
133. Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow Bruant de Nelson
134. Lesser Scaup Petit Fuligule
135. American Wigeon Canard d'Amérique
136. Eurasian Wigeon Canard siffleur
137. Red-breasted Merganser Harle huppé
138. Willet Chevalier semipalmé
139. Great Blue Heron Grand Héron
140. Eight: Estuaries, Sandspits, Beaches and Barachois Estuaires, flèches de sable, plages et barachois
141. Long-tailed Duck Harelde kakawi
142. Common Eider Eider à duvet
143. Great Black-backed Gull Goéland marin
144. Ring-billed Gull Goéland à bec cerclé
145. Bonaparte’s Gull Mouette de Bonaparte
146. Black-headed Gull Mouette rieuse
147. Common Tern Sterne pierregarin
148. Greater Yellowlegs Grand Chevalier
149. Semipalmated Plover Pluvier semipalmé
150. Black-bellied Plover Pluvier argenté
151. Piping Plover Pluvier siffleur
152. Purple Sandpiper Bécasseau violet
153. Nine: Cliff Colonies Colonies d'oiseaux de mer
154. Northern Gannet Fou de Bassan
155. Herring Gull Goéland argenté
156. Black-legged Kittiwake Mouette tridactyle
157. Common Murre Guillemot marmette
158. Thick-billed Murre Guillemot de Brünnich
159. Razorbill Petit Pingouin
160. Black Guillemot Guillemot à miroir
161. Northern Fulmar Fulmar boréal
162. Atlantic Puffin Macareux moine
163. Double-crested Cormorant Cormoran à aigrettes
164. Cliff Swallow Hirondelle à front blanc
165. Bank Swallow Hirondelle de rivage
166. Broad-winged Hawk Petite Buse
167. Peregrine Falcon Faucon pèlerin
168. Gyrfalcon Faucon gerfaut
169. Ten: Marine Birds Oiseaux de mer
170. Brant Bernache cravant
171. Greater Shearwater Puffin majeur
172. Leach's Storm-Petrel Océanite cul-blanc
173. Dovekie Mergule nain
174. Au Revoir

End of CD #2

Bird Songs of Eastern Canada by John Neville

Beginning and completing a recording project are always pleasing events for me. Bird Songs of Eastern Canada is a good example. I have to look back nearly three years, to 2009 to the early planning of this 2 CD set. We had visited Quebec and Newfoundland before, but not the other three Atlantic provinces. I have described our travels in two other articles. Our greatest disappointment was a cancelled ferry from Newfoundland to Goose Bay Labrador. This prevented us including recordings from the interior of Labrador. The region is dominated by a rugged coastline and extensive forests. As in other regional guides I have tried to fit the birds into the habitats where they are most often located. The reason for this division is to make the songs easier to recognise and remember. Associating a Yellow Warbler, for example, with the edge of a marsh gives extra clues to the birder. The other subtle, but serious reason, is to alert you, the listener, to the habitat needed by the birds. At a time when most bird species are in decline it's especially important for us to value and conserve parts of forest, marshes and grasslands for our fellow creatures.

CD #1 Section One: Backyards and the birdsongs we are most likely to hear and see. Some of these songsters, like the Robin and Black-capped Chickadee are familiar to listeners all across Canada and much of the US. The only two in this section with an eastern characteristic are the Blue Jay and the Mourning Dove.
Two: Boreal Forest is the longest section. The White-throated Sparrow, Ruffed Grouse, White-winged Crossbill, Boreal Owl, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and many others animate this huge forest. Many of these birdsongs provoke vivid memories of the bird or the place, like the American Crows flying over the beautiful Saguenany River. In this section you will hear the rare Bicknell’s Thrush, from the highlands, and be able to compare the song with its near relative the Gray-cheeked Thrush. The first none-birdsong comes in this section: a Red Squirrel.
Three: Mixed or Acadian Forest. This forest is predominantly in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. It is still at least partially boreal in content but mixed with more deciduous species, from further south, such as the Sugar Maple. This section starts with two examples of a Northern Parula song. Some of the wood warblers are tricky songsters to learn because of the variations in their song, like the Parula. The Indigo Bunting, White-breasted Nuthatch, Northern Mockingbird and Great Crested Flycatcher are some of the examples from the mixed woodland. The lovely song of a Rose-breasted Grosbeak came from the crown of a Birch tree on Grand Mannan Island.
Four: The final section on CD #1 Grasslands and Barrens. The barrens in Newfoundland were very similar to more northerly tundra, but without the permafrost. In Newfoundland many of the birds have local names such as the Fox sparrow, known as Foxy Tom, or Foxy Rooter. Some of the typical birds of this habitat you can hear are the Savannah Sparrow, American Pipit, Northern Wheatear, and the Palm Warbler.

CD #2 Section Five: Freshwater Marsh and Riparian Wetlands. This section begins with the low pumping sounds of an American Bittern. The next track is also amazing, the atavistic sounds of a Sandhill Crane. Then if you like bizarre sounds, you will enjoy the Pied-billed Grebe. The recording of the Wilson's Snipe is aided by the stereo recordings on these CDS. The amphibians at the end of this section are quite interesting: the sweet sound of Spring Peepers is quite different to the deep grunts of the Bull frogs!
Six: Lakes and Rivers starts with Red-necked Grebe. The American Black Duck is special to this region, but apart from being black, looks and sounds like a Mallard. The Osprey track is a clear, intimate recording from the nest of parents and chicks. You can even hear the female panting in this close up recording to stay cool! The tracks of Snow Geese and Canada Geese evoke wonderful images!
Seven: Saltwater Marshes. The Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow begins this section with its strange call: somewhere between a rattle and a hiss. Other tracks include rare recordings of Lesser Scaup, Eurasian Wigeon and Red-breasted Merganser.
Eight: Estuaries, Sandspits and Barachois. Barachois is the brackish water found in estuaries all-but cut off from the ocean. This marine feature is quite common on the Atlantic coast. Several gulls and Common Tern are featured in this section. The tracks introducing Semipalmated and Black-bellied Plovers are very pleasing to the ear. The rare recording of Piping Plover are also special in Atlantic Canada. Listen carefully to the Purple Sandpiper which is only heard along the rocky shoreline in winter months.
Nine: Cliff Colonies. Some of the birds in this section can only be heard in Atlantic Canada. Northern Gannet, Common Murre, Razorbills (also known as Tinkers), and the Atlantic Puffin are just some of the special atlantic species.
Ten: Marine Birds is the last section. The Greater Shearwater is a summer visitor but breeds in the South Atlantic. Leach's Storm Petrel spend the day in burrows before heading out to sea at night. The rich sounds from the atlantic coast bring back many memories of Eastern Canada and I hope these recordings encourage you to visit the region, and learn some of the birdsongs.

We have received requests to add a print name for each species for computer users. This time we have responded to the request and hope it proves useful? We have also added the French name to each of the species in the liner notes. For all of you listening to these recordings we sincerely hope that they add pleasure and recognition to your birding trips in Eastern Canada.

John Neville

Recording in Newfoundland 2010
John Neville
Wildlife Sound Spring 2011
Following the coast north , our next stop was Gros Morne National Park. The rocks in this World Heritage Site tell wondrous stories from a billion years ago , ancient seabeds, volcanoes, continents colliding, the rising of the Appalachian Mountain Chain and the sculpting of the landscape by the last Ice Age. Its cliffs and fiords face westward into the Gulf of St Lawrence. The park brochure advertises more than 700 flowering plants and 239 birdspecies. A roadside sign cautioned “14 Moose collisions so far this year”. The Tableland was covered with plants no more than 15cm tall called Tuckamore or Krumholz. Even though some of the trees are quite old their vertical growth is stunted by the sandblasting effect of wind and winter ice crystals. On our first afternoon, I was able to
record good sounds of Tennessee and Black-throated Green Warblers on the Lomond River trail. Early the next morning, Common Loons were calling from the bay and Osprey were circling overhead. Our favourite location in the park, was the trail to Westbrook Pond. The pond isactually a landlocked fiord. After the ice retreated, the shoreline rebounded , cutting off the fiord from the ocean. Memorable birds at this location were Lesser Yellowlegs,Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Black-and-White Warbler and Hermit Thrush.

Terra Nova National Park was next. It was about 380 km further along Highway 1 in east central Nfld. The hoots of a pair of Great Horned Owl got me out of bed at 3 am. It was a perfectly calm morning, and they were easy to record. As I was questioning why they were calling so late in the season, the answer came, in the form of an owlet begging. It was one of those good days at Sandy Pond, when an Olive-sided Flycatcher, the tremolo calls of a
Common Loon (Great Northern Diver), Chipping Sparrow, songs of a Yellow-rumped Warbler and the contact calls of his mate, all came easily to the microphone. This park also boasts more than 200 annual bird species. Unfortunately from a nature recordist's point of view, the noise from the Trans Canada highway carries across too much of the park. Shortly after moving off, a Moose stopped us in the middle of the road. It was as if he weretelling us to pause and enjoy the forest.

Our next stop was at the bird colony at Cape St Mary's Ecological Reserve. The cliff walk was about 1.4 km long. Before we reached the colony, the smell of rotting fish and guano carried to us on the wind. At the end of the trail was a 25m gap separating us from a stack covered by birds. The Gannet and Black-legged Kittiwake were most numerous, with Razorbill and Black Guillemot lower down the 100m cliff. The birds were lined up on the ledges like produce at the supermarket. A gannet flew over our heads on white wings nearly 2m across. Hanging from his bill were the heads and tails of four Capelin. I was once in a fishing boat where Gannets were diving like darts barely causing a ripple on the ocean surface. The Gannetry is one of six around Nfld and the Gulf of St Lawrence. The barren lands leading to the colony are like open tundra without the permafrost. We enjoyed Willow Ptarmigan, Horned Lark, two pairs of Short-eared Owl, American Pipit, Palm Warbler and the lovely songs of many Fox Sparrows. On the evening of June 17, I was delighted to speak to 35 Nfld Naturalists at Memorial University in St John's. They enjoyed my recordings and stories from across Canada.

Our last major birding site was Gull Island in Witlass Bay. Thousands of Common Murre (in Newfoundlandese they are known as turr or the Baccalieu bird and in Europe they are known as Guillemot), Black-legged Kittiwake, Herring Gull and Atlantic Puffin lined the the cliffs and swam around our chartered Zodiac. With the engine turned off we drifted quietly along the foot of the cliffs- with one hand for me and one hand for the microphone. Newfoundland is a great place to visit but allow yourself a little extra time if you are hoping to record. The weather conditions are challenging, like northern Scotland!


President's Perch by John Neville article from Summer issue BC Nature magazine 2011

Immediately afterward we headed for the East Coast. Our destination was the Bay of Fundy and several locations in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The funnel-shaped bay absorbs and ejects 100 billion tons of salt water on each tide. The water rises and falls fifteen meters , which are the highest tides in the world. Its a very rich marine environment where some of the following mammals might be seen from cliffs and boats: Northern Right , Blue , Fin-back, Minke, Humpback, Sperm, Beluga, Orca , and Long-fin Pilot Whales. Other marine mammals to look out for are: Harbour, Harp, Hooded and Grey Seal; White-beaked, White-sided and Common Dolphin; and Harbour Porpoise. The bird checklist has more than 350 species and is interesting in all four seasons. For example, about 110.000 Razorbills spend the winter amongst the islands.

We gained different perspectives on the bay from Fundy National Park www.parkscanada.gc.ca, Joggins Fossil Cliffs UNESCO World Heritage Site jogginsfossilcliffs.net, and the Tintamarre National Wildlife Area and Tantramar Marshes near Sackville at the head of the Bay. More about the bay in a minute. At Kejimkujik National Park, one evening we sat on the edge of a lake to record Common Loons. Behind me in the woods, Hermit Thrush and Eastern Towhee provided a musical background. In the foreground, Bullfrog , Trout and Bats were feeding voraciously on Mosquitoes. We were protected by bug shirts! In Cape Breton Highlands National Park , I was walking a trail one morning recording Green Frogs, Coyote and Chestnut-sided Warbler when I heard footsteps behind me. I turned and quietly asked...”Is that you Heather?” ... With long strides across the road and crashing through the bush, a Moose parted company with me. Heather had been watching the moose follow me for some time and her photograph is included.

In the Bay of Fundy there is an archipelago of sixteen islands created from basalt and sedimentary rock. The woodland is Acadian Forest , which comprises boreal trees mixed with deciduous hardwoods from further south. The largest ( 25 by 10 km) and most populated is Grand Manan Island with about 2500 people. You reach this beautiful island by an exciting ninety minute ferry ride. The journey starts from Black's Harbour, near Highway 1, the Trans Canada, in New Brunswick. Around the island, fishing boats can be seen everyday catching herring, pollock and mackerel and emptying crab and lobster pots. They also tend fish farms, like the West Coast. Edible Common Periwinkle were introduced to these shores about 200 years ago. Dulce is harvested from the shoreline. We enjoyed another resource, fresh fiddle heads in our salad. One of the island treasures is the extensive network of trails. The most important one skirts the whole island. Many others link with the peripheral trail and most of the public pathways are in good condition. A trail guide is available. Our first stop was Long Pond Bay. It contains Anchorage Provincial Park and a bird sanctuary. In late May most of the migrant birds had already passed through but Lesser Scaup, Herring and Greater Black-backed Gulls were still on the pond. The gull colonies were on offshore islets. After dark, the high pitched trills of American Toads began. Those long trills were my first successful recordings of the trip.

The songs of Winter Wren and American Robin were subtly different from those found elsewhere in the country and I sometimes had to stop and listen for a minute to confirm their identification. Some of the eastern species we encountered were Northern Mockingbird, Northern Cardinal, Eastern Meadowlark, Eastern Towhee, Common Eider, American Black Duck and Northern Gannet. The wood warblers were constant companions all around the island. Ovenbird, American Redstart, Magnolia, Black-throated Green, Black-throated Blue, Northern Parula and Chestnut-sided warblers always seemed to be around the next bend of the trail. Amongst the most beautiful songsters we enjoyed, were Swainson and Hermit Thrush and the rich whistles of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Wetlands were quite extensive around Grand Manan. Typically Alder Flycatcher, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow and Wilson's Warblers would be resident. The Castalia salt marsh was a little different. The vegetation was limited by the brackish water. Amongst some wild roses I was able to record Nelson Sharp-tailed Sparrow for the first time. The song can best be described as a soft hiss! Its only a nutty birder like me that would appreciate a drab grey sparrow, with a white belly and usually quite inconspicuous in Atlantic salt marshes. If you would like more information about birds in this region I can highly recommend Roger Burrows , Birding in New Brunswick, 2010,