Nature Moncton Nature News: June 9 2015

Janet Cormier got some nice photos of the osprey around their nest sites between Bouctouche and Barachois recently. It appears they are all doing well and having a good year.

** Aldo Dorio got a photo of an adult male RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD [Carouge à épaulettes] with a leg band on at the Hay Island Nature Park on Monday. The resident RED FOX [Renard roux] there was photographed carrying its prize catch appearing to be a SNOWSHOE HARE [Lièvre d’Amérique].

** Brian Stone and I went out on 2 missions on Monday: first, was to visit the swelling colony of terns at a floating platform off Pointe du Chene Rd placed in a cove placed there by the Shediac Bay Watershed Association. They placed a small platform out last year with decoys and a Tern call whaler to attract TERNS to the nesting platform. They didn’t get it in until late last May last year but did get one pair to nest and fledge 3 chicks. This year they attached 4 more sections to the platform and have approximately 60 birds around it at the moment preparing nests. It’s a awesome success story to help get an alternative for the terns that were trying to nest at the Shediac Marina where boat owners were trying to stop them. The platforms are located by going down the Pointe du Chene Rd and taking the first left - Railway St after passing the creek, there is a parking area there at the end of that street that leads to a walking bridge from where the action can be observed.

Mission no. 2 was to find the Aboujagane bog which, after checking the power line for 2 hours plus, we did not find the right sections sought after; however, a calling BROAD-WINGED HAWK [Petite Buse] did join us which Brian was able to get a few nice photos at great distance. We saw many of the bog plants mentioned in the last days on the Nature line including the BLACK HUCKLEBERRY in bloom, and CINNAMON FERN fruiting, and GREAT HORNED OWLS [Grand-duc d’Amérique] were calling to each other but we did not see them.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton