Nature Moncton Nature News: May 27 2015

** Dave Miller reports that he located the RUFF on Thursday morning that Louis-Emile Cormier had located at the small salt marsh bordering the boardwalk, behind the visitor centre, at the Rotary Park in Bouctouche. Louis-Emile located that bird on Monday evening so it seems to be staying for the moment.

** Jean-Paul Leblanc got a photo of a GREAT EGRET in the Cormierville marsh near Cocagne on Tuesday evening and looking very comfortable. Stella saw it there first in mid afternoon.

** A site we seem to have neglected reporting from last few years is Bell Marsh. Julie Pellerin and Richard Leger paid a visit there Monday to find it bursting with activity and some very interesting species that included 8 GRAY CATBIRDS, 4 WILSON'S WARBLERS, BLACKPOLL WARBLER, AMERICAN REDSTART, lots of YELLOW warblers, BALTIMORE ORIOLE, PIED-BILLED GREBE, 3 pairs of HOUSE FINCH, CEDAR WAXWINGS, an EASTERN KINGBIRD and a few RED-EYED VIREOS. Quite an impressive list! It is definitely time for us to be visiting this nearby hotspot and thanks to Julie for the reminder.

** John Filliter shares some photos of white trillium at Cap Brûlé. This plant is Ontario's provincial flower and John comments there were transplanted at the Cape Brulé area by Suzanne Edward.

** Brian Stone shares a photo of the surface of the moon he captured on Monday night, a COMMON GRACKLE with a true mouth full of seeds, a documentary photo of a female REDSTART warbler, a RUFFED GROUSE and a photo of a TREE SWALLOW pair to nicely show the gender difference.

** Clarence Cormier had two new species arrive to his Grand Digue site on Tuesday being 2 RED-EYED VIREOS and 2 CEDAR WAXWINGS and another first spring ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. Clarence recognizes this as a different one from the last immature as there are very noticeable differences in plumage of the two. This makes for five rose-breasted grosbeak arrivals all being held for Clarence.

** Aldo Dorio continues his shorebird migrant observations at Hay Island Nature Park near Neguac. He got a documentary photo of a DUNLAN in breeding plumage on Tuesday as well as a Veery from an under view.