December 18 2014

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editor.

Dave and Bonnie Wright had a nice day birding on Wednesday travelling from Salisbury to Sackville and back around via the Anderson Road, always a nice route to follow. They spotted 4 RED-TAILED HAWKS [Buse à queue rousse], one at Boundary Creek on the Salisbury Road, one on Route 15 near the Murray Corner exit, one near Macdonalds restaurant on the TCH at Magnetic Hill and another from the TCH en route to Sackville near the Miramichi exit. I am getting the impression there maybe a good number of RED-TAILED HAWKS in the area at the moment from reports and roadside perch is a good place to spot them as they watch the ditches for rodent activity.

**Dave Christie has had 4 to 6 WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS [Bruant à gorge blanche] as tenants to ground scattered white millet and corn. On Sunday it swelled to 7, then on Wednesday 12 burst out of the shrubbery by his feeder area.

** I continue to have my one WHITE-THROATED SPARROW to my own urban feeder yard.

**As probably many have noted the recent mild weather has SKUNKS out foraging with the evidence of their travels usually as a result of their distinct scent left after things don’t go their way. Dave comments on the strong odour near the former BARRED OWL [Chouette rayée] headquarters last Saturday. GREAT HORNED OWLS [Grand-duc d’Amérique) do like to prey on skunks and there was one seen there in that area. Dave noted a skunk dead on the road at Harvey that disappeared the next day and another road-kill skunk in Riverside-Albert that he spotted AMERICAN CROWS [Corneille d’Amérique] scavenging on, moving around for their convenience.

**Nature Moncton Christmas Bird Count coordinator Roger Leblanc reminds us about the Moncton count that will be held this coming Saturday, December 20th and that the count period is 3 days before and three days after to record anything that does not get recorded on count day. That will mean Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, as well as Sunday, Monday and Tuesday after the count day. Make sure to take note of anything noted within the Moncton count circle  that you may feel could easily be missed on count day and report it to this line and be sure to provide the exact location.

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton