** There haven’t been many NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRDS [Moqueur polyglotte]
reported so far this winter, however, Attila Fust, coordinator of the Bouctouche
Christmas Bird Count, had one appear at his suet feeder on the Coates Mills Road
just across the Bouctouche River from Sainte-Marie. He’s hoping it continues to
visit until count day, which is Sunday, Dec. 27, for that area.
** There was an occurrence of AURORA [aurore] in the sky over New
Brunswick on Sunday night - Monday morning. Brian Stone was ready for it, but
just as it was beginning to grow strong, clouds rolled in and blocked it. Brian
got some photos of what was brewing until the clouds foiled his anticipation.
** BROWN CREEPERS [Grimpereau brun] can occur in town; Georges Brun had
one visit his small urban forest on Churchill Street in Moncton, in early and in
mid-December.
** A COMMON GRACKLE [Quiscale bronzé] with a beak deformity and white on
the tail is making the rounds of feeders in Salisbury. Marguerite Winsor got a
photo of it in their yard. It has also been visiting Dave and Bonnie Miller's
and Connie and Pearl Colpitts’ yards.
** Louise Richard has RED SQUIRREL [Écureuil roux] visitors at their
Acadieville cabin, but one is sporting a short tail to suggest a near miss by a
predator, while one of its kin sports a full tail beside it. They also have a
MINK [Vison d’Amérique] that they see in the area from time to time. There could
be a possible connection with the shortened squirrel tail. The Richards got an
awesome video of the Mink travelling along the river; I’m hoping to find a way
to post videos like this on the Blogspot in order to share them.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
AURORA 01. DEC.20, 2015. BRIAN STONE
AURORA 01. DEC.20, 2015. BRIAN STONE
AURORA 01. DEC.20, 2015. BRIAN STONE
COMMON GRACKLE (BEAK DEFORMITY AND WHITE ON TAIL).DEC 20, 2015.MARGUERITE WINSOR
RED SQUIRREL (tail incident).DEC 20, 2015.LOUISE RICHARD
RED SQUIRREL.DEC 20, 2015.LOUISE RICHARD