There have been a huge number of AMERICAN WOODCOCK [Bécasse d'Amérique]
reports in Nova Scotia over the past week but few that I’m aware of in New
Brunswick. Dale Gaskin spotted a Woodcock on a sunny bank by the old railway
trestle near Hillsborough on Sunday. He watched it for sometime; it seemed to be
soaking up the warm sun and enjoying itself. Dale also saw a TURKEY VULTURE
[Urubu à tête rouge] effortlessly floating over Hillsborough on Sunday.
** Louise and Maurice Richard spotted a BELTED KINGFISHER [Martin-pêcheur
d'Amérique] and a male COMMON MERGANSER [Grand Harle] on the Kouchibouguac
River, by their Acadieville cabin on Sunday.
** Good to hear the ‘W' word again. Dave Christie spotted a PALM WARBLER
[Paruline à couronne rousse] on Sunday, his first warbler sighting of 2015. It
was feeding on the Mary's Point salt marsh, going to and from nearby woods. He
also heard it call a few times. On the marsh were large numbers of AMERICAN
ROBINS [Merle d'Amérique] that would lift in flocks to dive into the forest each
time that a perusing female NORTHERN HARRIER [Busard Saint-Martin] cruised over
the marsh.
Dave had female BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS [Vacher à tête brune] at his Mary's
Point feeder for the first time on Sunday to join males that had appeared
earlier.
Dave also reports that John Inman had a SWAMP SPARROW [Bruant des marais]
and 2 SAVANNAH SPARROWS [Bruant des prés] arrive at his 225 Mary's Point Road
feeder yard on Sunday. A female NORTHERN CARDINAL [Cardinal rouge] continues to
be a patron but is now tending to circulate to other feeders in the area.
** Nice to hear reports from the Riverview Marsh already. Georges Brun
reports that the walking trail still had a foot and half of snow on it on
Saturday. From the parking area on Hawthorn Street, he saw 4 pairs of AMERICAN
WIGEON [Canard d'Amérique] ducks and a group of 9 CANADA GEESE [Bernache du
Canada] that had chosen a grassy checking out the offered goodies.
** Some COMMON RAVENS [Grand Corbeau] are very apt to be on nests already,
but not all. Brian Coyle noted a female Raven land in a spruce tree on Sunday to
gather nesting materials, when a male came by, “knocking and cooing”; mating
followed very quickly. Brian assumed the female was preparing for egg-laying and
that hastened the need to complete the nest, which the pair have been building
for at least two weeks. When mating was complete, the male flew towards the nest
site, while she continued to gather lichens and then flew towards the nest as
well.
** In follow-up to Susan Linkletter’s report of deer on roadways, I came
across the very rural Warwick Road, near Red Bank, on Sunday, and surprisingly
encountered a traffic jam of 18 cars stopped. I soon realized that it was not an
accident scene, but many folk stopped to see and feed WHITE-TAILED DEER [Cerf de
Virginie] that were roaming the road area. I assume that there was a deer yard
nearby. It looked like apples were a popular treat. The folks were very much
enjoying interacting with the deer and the deer did not complain, as they roamed
around the vehicles for bootie. It’s no doubt not a good thing to be doing
this on a roadway but everyone seemed to be enjoying the interaction. I travel
that road often but have never seen a mishap with the deer.
The does with yearlings looked thin however the yearlings and
single animals appeared in good condition. A photo shows a thin doe with a
yearling in nice condition.
If anyone missed the Land and Sea program on cougars on
Sunday, Alonzo Leger advises it can be seen at
http://www.cbc.ca/player/Shows/Shows/More+Shows/Land+and+Sea/2014-2015/ID/2663591201/
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
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