Mark Dennis

I'm hearing that they've been pretty regular from Halifax north. We should get a few when the next nor'easter blows through.

Thick-billed Murre seems to be at every site I visit (with ocean) at the moment. The norm is one or two per winter, oddly no Dovekie Yet. Cape Sable Island (no horses, that's the other one) Nova Scotia. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching #seabirds

A contribution to #superbowl An indifferent Snowy from Nova Scotia.

Our default waxwing in southern Nova Scotia is Cedar, they breed in the yard, so it's always nice when a real one heads our way, in this case 40. Bohemian Waxwings, Barrington Passage NS Feb-08, 2026. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching

youtu.be/ZYk-elv4b2M Sandra's started putting up the birding in Nova Scotia 2025 videos to our YouTube channel. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching #NovaScotia

Merlin says it's a Great-tailed. I manually set the location to Costa Rica.

The Owl Thing Generally, birders are good at respecting boundaries, whether they be human ones relating to property and privacy, or natural ones where the object of our interest, birds, are accorded the respect …

Time for a blog post from Nova Scotia. capesablebirding.wordpress.com/2026/02/02/t...

Hunting is done again for another year, so these beauties get to make more Long-tailed Ducks for next season. Hard to know why someone who saw such perfection up close would then shoot it? #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching

Red-tailed Hawk scavenging Canada Geese corpses, Yarmouth Harbour 1st Feb 2026. Dotted around on their own meals were three Northern Harriers a Bald Eagle and a Turkey Vulture. Gees the victims of bird flu or pricked by shot, who knows? #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching

Bruiser time, the Glaucs are finally arriving. This meaty 1CY was at my regular fish plant on Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia today. #Birds #Birdwatching #Birding

Both formats of my new novel, Mirovina, are now available from Amazon. It's actually book three in the series, as I first introduced the leads in another novel, The Chaser, one of my Nova Scotia Birder Mysteries. #Booksky #Books #NovaScotia

I just published my latest novel, Mirovina. Details in the panel. #Books #Booksky #NovaScotia #Authors

My first three Nottingham mysteries in one eBook. The first in the series, Coldhearted, was inspired by being fired by an American company. I put the smiling manager in a -40 freezer (in the book), it didn't go well for her. Cathartic. At Amazon. #Books #Booksky #Nottingham #Authors

First time the Turkey Vultures have fed at the fish plant in the ten years I've been visiting, almost daily in winter. Currently the snowiest winter her since we moved here. Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching

If a player gets arrested and deported while playing in the US during the hopefully relocated world cup, can the coach replace him or will they be considered collateral damage? I checked the FIFA handbook and see nothing to cover it.

They sound perfect for Canadian winters, but we don't buy anything from the US these days, for obvious reasons.

That getting published was just luck was my thoughts too, but Amazon KDP changed all that. The way I see it is that Amazon are employing people irrespective, people that need jobs. Me not using them to publish won't change anything anywhere but it does get me my books published.

We get one or two Thick-billed Murres most winters, usually in February. Currently we have at least five locally, including one from the yard (3rd ever). Time to check all the wharves. The image is an older one used to illustrate. Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching

I self-publish with Amazon. Yes there are valid ethical issues, but the idea is to use them, not they use you. Using Amazon is the only way to get my stories out at no cost to me. I also do birding travelogues. You can publish, get a stock of books and unpublish, minimising Amazon's take.

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As I was in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, today I caught up with a wintering Snowy Owl. This bird is living on a busy wharf and tidying up the large rat population nicely. Hopefully it will be left unmolested by people who might think 'trophy'. Sadly, they still exist. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching

Quite prescient my first Nova Scotia birder mystery, The Frigatebird, has a tale about a European Robin wintering in a greenhouse in Digby county, and now there's one in Montreal. I have seven novels in my series in both eBook and print format from Amazon. #Birding #NovaScotia #Booksky #Books

Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. It's on all the maps.

The colder spells seem to have bought more Kumlien's Gulls south. At least 35 at one of my regular fish plants on Cape Sable Island NS. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching

Defying Expectations Conventional wisdom, when applied to vagrant bird species, is often wrong as proven when something unexplainable frequently happens. Take the recent and hopefully ongoing Tufted Titmouse for exampl…

A provincial tick deserves a blog post, so here's one. capesablebirding.wordpress.com/2026/01/08/d...

After waiting for the roads to be decent, it seemed that only our corner of the province was suffering, we went to New Glasgow for the first Nova Scotia Tufted Titmouse. Afternoon 1, no, frozen. Day two, no, snow, gales and -16C. Today, yes, -13C and calm. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching #NovaScotia

When there's a provincial first Tufted Titmouse four hours away and the Banana Belt where we live won't play nice.

Nearly Light These days I no longer stay up to see in the New Year. Once I’d stopped, the day seemed to manage to dawn ok without me, so now it’s bed at my regular time then up before first light as…

An end of year blog post. As predicted, junco was first on the list today and our Varied Thrush stuck too, despite the fireworks. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching capesablebirding.wordpress.com/2026/01/01/n...

New Year tomorrow, can't wait. Have a good one everybody. Let's hope 2026 brings all the things we hope for, even if, in a perfect world, some are things you'd never want to wish for. I ended up with 279 for the year, my average since 2015 is 283. Must try harder. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching.

Just when you think we're done with avian surprises in 2025, up pops a Varied Thrush in a birder friend's yard. A Shelburne County and Cape Sable Island tick, photo taken in terrible light due to freezing rain. #Birds #Birding #Birdwatching