** The WITCH-HAZEL [Hamamélis de Virginie, ou Café du diable] is a very
interesting shrub, as it is right now that it blooms. It seems an unusual time
of year for a plant to burst into bloom, however, this is the expected time for
Witch-Hazel. John Massey found one in the woods of Kent County on Saturday and
shares a photo of the yellow flowers. For anyone wanting to see this shrub
blooming in numbers there is a section of French Fort Cove Park in Miramichi
that hosts a number of this shrub in the section on the river side.
** Bob Blake maintains weather stats of daily morning temperatures, daily
high temperatures, and precipitation, at his Second North River home. As Bob was
away 15 days during October 2014, temperature comparison figures with October
2015 would not be meaningful, but precipitation is. Bob recorded 126 mm of rain
in Oct. 2014 and 107 mm in Oct. 2015.
** The Nature Moncton field trip to the Sackville Waterfowl Park and the
fields behind the Sackville government garage took place on Saturday under
beautiful sunny skies. With a large contingent of eyes from the Chignecto
Naturalists' Club, Nature Moncton, and guests. Large numbers of AMERICAN WIGEON
[Canard d'Amérique] and good numbers of GADWALL [Canard chipeau] made them the
most populous birds. As always at the Sackville Waterfowl Park, there were
surprises. An AMERICAN COOT [Foulque d'Amérique] was present, of which so far we
have documentary photos only. A few juvenile HOODED MERGANSERS [Harle couronné]
created lots of interest. A PIED-BILLED GREBE [Grèbe à bec bigarré] gave rise to
a lot of questions at first, as it chose to provide only glimpses, until
suddenly it came right out in front of the group for great views that showed it
to be an adult in winter plumage. In consultation with the guides, first fall
juveniles would have a noticeably different plumage at this point. RING-NECKED
DUCKS [Fuligule à collier] in fall plumage got attention. The only shorebirds to
join the group at the park were YELLOWLEGS [Chevalier sp.].
The visit to the fields behind the government garage found approximately
150 plovers that were a challenge for getting photographic evidence of AMERICAN
GOLDEN-PLOVERS [Pluvier bronzé] among the many BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS [Pluvier
argenté] in winter plumage. Hopefully, more photos will come on the scene today
that will show some to be Golden Plovers, which most observers felt were there,
but at a distance. At least one HUDSONIAN GODWIT [Barge hudsonienne] was with
them, and documented in a photo.. A group of 100+ SNOW BUNTINGS [Bruant des
neiges] were going and coming from the banks of the river, creating an
impressive aerial performance. A flock of Common Eider also went over.
Anne Marsch and Annette and Brian Stone spotted 2 NORTHERN HARRIERS [Busard
Saint-Martin] hunting the Tantramar Marsh before the field trip began, and Brian
and I spotted at least one SHORT-EARED OWL [Hibou des marais] there at dusk,
after the field trip.
The many interesting plover photos deserve a separate airing
which hope to have tomorrow. We all learned a lot studying the winter plumage of
the Black-bellied and American Golden Plover. Stay tuned for more on that to be
shared as identifications are completed.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
AMERICAN COOT 01. OCT. 31, 2015. BRIAN STONE
AMERICAN COOT 01. OCT. 31, 2015. BRIAN STONE
AMERICAN WIGEON. LOUISE NICHOLS. OCT. 31, 2015
BIRDERS ON SATURDAY FIELD TRIP. OCT. 31, 2015. BRIAN STONE
COMMON EIDER DUCKS 01. OCT. 31, 2015. BRIAN STONE
COMMON EIDER DUCKS 01. OCT. 31, 2015. BRIAN STONE
HOODED MERGANSER DUCK ( FEMALE ) 01. OCT. 31, 2015. BRIAN STONE
HUDSONIAN GODWIT 01. OCT. 31, 2015. BRIAN STONE (4)
HUDSONIAN GODWIT 01. OCT. 31, 2015. BRIAN STONE (4)
NORTHERN SHOVELER DUCK. OCT. 31, 2015. BRIAN STONE
NORTHERN SHOVELERS. LOUISE NICHOLS. OCT. 31, 2015
PIED-BILLED GREBE. LOUISE NICHOLS. OCT. 31, 2015
SNOW BUNTINGS 01. OCT. 31, 2015. BRIAN STONE
WITCH HAZEL IN BLOOM.OCT 31,2015.JOHN MASSEY
