Nature Moncton Nature News: April 19 2015

** Louise Richard’s NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD [Moqueur polyglotte] has started singing to create a symphony with SONG SPARROWS [Bruant chanteur] in her Moncton yard. It is apparently a male. I have not heard the one that visits our yard singing, so hopefully it is a lady in waiting and only several wing-flaps away.

** John Inman reports 3 CHIPPING SPARROWS [Bruant familier] arrived in his 225 Mary's Point Road feeder yard on Saturday. PURPLE FINCHES [ROSELIN POURPRÉ] are up to 15, and there is also an increase in SWAMP SPARROWS [Bruant des marais], (numbers not mentioned). It has been very interesting to note the increased number of Swamp Sparrow reports at feeders this spring. It’s a sparrow that we don’t get to see visiting feeder yards this frequently. I assume that snow levels covering natural food may have caused that, as well as the increased number of FOX SPARROWS [Bruant fauve] at feeders. Only a few WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS [Bruant à couronne blanche] have been reported so far, which is expected as they usually follow after the Fox Sparrows.

** Dave Christie reports that WHITE-THROATED SPARROW [Bruant à gorge blanche] numbers swelled to 10 at his Mary's Point feeder yard on Saturday. Fox Sparrows are still quite high at eight [The maximum having been 16 on April 6. — DSC]. Dave notes that SONG SPARROWS [Bruant chanteur], AMERICAN ROBINS [Merle d'Amérique] and NORTHERN FLICKERS [Pic flamboyant] now seem everywhere along roadside and on bare of fields.

A Saturday visit to Calhoun Marsh Ducks Unlimited impoundment, west of Riverside-Albert, showed the ice starting to break up nicely. CANADA GEESE [Bernache du Canada], AMERICAN BLACK DUCKS [Canard noir], MALLARDS [Canard colvert], RING-NECKED DUCKS [Fuligule à collier], COMMON GOLDENEYES [Garrot à oeil d'or] and a GREAT BLUE HERON [Grand Héron] were moving in to the open water areas.

Dave noted 2 EASTERN PHOEBE [Moucherolle phébi] in roadside bushes [on nearby Midway Road], sallying to fields for insects.

** We have had some nice photos of FOX SPARROWS [Bruant fauve] shared, as we enjoy their fuelling stop en route north. Janet Cormier got three nice photos of this sparrow from three different angles that show its features beautifully. It was the first-ever visit of a Fox Sparrow to her Salisbury Road feeder yard.

** Larry Sherrard noted 2 TURKEY VULTURES [Urubu à tête rouge] at a site near Parkindale in Albert County on Saturday. They were tending to a road-kill RACCOON [Raton laveur].

** Norm Mulock came across a freshly killed BELTED KINGFISHER [Martin-pêcheur d’Amérique] in downtown Moncton, in an alleyway adjacent to the TD Bank. It appeared to have no noticeable injury. He wondered if it may have been attracted to the lights of the building during night migration and hit it.

** Brian Stone noticed his resident cock RING-NECKED PHEASANT [Faisan de Colchide] get ruffled up about a pair of MALLARD [Canard colvert] ducks in his yard on Saturday; the Mallards decided to stand their ground. The cock’s concerns soon became evident when a female he had lured to the yard stepped out.

Brian also noted at least 6 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS [Jaseur boréal] in Mapleton Park, as well as a large snow fly, on Saturday.

** The April meeting of Nature Moncton will take place this coming Tuesday, April 21. The special guest will be Andrew Boghen, who will give a presentation about parasites, that will show that there are a few very different ways to look at this community in Mother Nature’s world.

Details attached:

Nature Moncton April 2015 Meeting
Tuesday, April 21 at 7.00 PM
Mapleton Park Rotary Lodge
Topic: A Parasitic Life Style – No Apologies Necessary

Presenter – Andrew Boghen

Parasites are organisms that live in or on other organisms and account for more than 50% of all the animals on earth. For the most part, they are perceived as unwelcome guests whose numbers range from several hundred to millions of organisms per host. They conjure up ideas of freeloaders – wriggly worms, creepy insects, slimy amoebae that more often than not cause great havoc if not outright death.

There is, however, increasing evidence that parasites also have a good side. For example, they have the capacity to improve the taste of certain foods and can impact positively on failing immune systems. More important, they represent an integral part of the ecosystem, ensuring stability and playing a significant role in the evolutionary process of living organisms.

It is their extraordinarily diverse adaptations, including tapping into their host’s biological systems and altering the latter’s behavior for their own ends that make them such interesting subjects. It is also not surprising that they have gained amour and respect by many for their unparalleled craftiness and clever talents in ensuring their unique way of life. Their bible is no other than the book of evolution and to this end they have, and remain, first class students.

The talk will focus on some of the