Nature Moncton Nature News: Sept 27 2015

** A reminder that tonight, Sunday night, the LUNAR ECLIPSE [Éclipse lunaire] will get underway just after 10 p.m. It is looking like skies could be most cooperative.

** Some shorebird variety is staring to appear at the Sackville Waterfowl Park, as it did last year at this time. Louise Nichols got a nice photo of a HUDSONIAN GODWIT [Barge hudsonienne] there, on the ‘shorebird islands’, with the yellowlegs on Saturday. Note the long up-curved, bicoloured bill and larger size. Louise also noticed an increased presence of PECTORAL SANDPIPERS [Bécasseau à poitrine cendrée], 8 to 12 individuals. One can be seen behind the godwit in one of Louise’s photos.

** Aldo Dorio noted 20 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS [Pluvier argenté] in the Malpec area on Saturday, now with no remnants of breeding plumage. This plumage can be confused with the less common, but very much present, AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER [Pluvier bronzé]. Gilles Belliveau makes some nice comments pointing out that the Golden Plover’s plumage has a darker cap that contrasts with the white supercilium, which is the light line over the eye. Also, the bill of the American Golden Plover is more slender than that of the Black-bellied Plover, and generally a bit more tapered to make it look daintier. At this stage, the Goldens will usually show some yellow or golden tones but Black-bellies would normally not show that; ones that do could cause some confusion.

** Anne Marsch and Pat Poirier visited the Hillsborough area on Saturday and noted approximately 50 AMERICAN CROWS [Corneille d'Amérique] assembled around Gray’s Island. A stop around the abandoned silos gave good observations of at least a half dozen YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS [Paruline à croupion jaune] on the move, showing various plumages of autumn. At the Gray Brook Marsh spillway, a SOLITARY SANDPIPER [Chevalier solitaire], some GREATER YELLOWLEGS [Grand Chevalier] and a BELTED KINGFISHER [Martin-pêcheur d'Amérique] were present, with more yellowlegs and an increase in duck presence visible from the observation tower. A MEADOWHAWK [Sympétrum] dragonfly gave a close-up photo.

** Recent photos that Brian Stone got include a young-of-the-year AMERICAN ROBIN [Merle d'Amérique] with its spotted breast and a photo of a LESSER YELLOWLEGS [Petit Chevalier] beside a HERRING GULL [Goéland argenté]; the gull is now showing dark streaks on the head, indicating it is going into winter plumage. Brian also shares a WHITE-FACED MEADOWHAWK [Sympétrum éclaireur] dragonfly and a male LANCE-TIPPED DARNER [Aeschne constrictor].

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton