Nature Moncton Nature News: Jan 20 2016

** Dave Miller spotted a BROWN THRASHER on Tuesday morning in a bush beside a bird-feeder yard on the Taylor Rd., which is just off Route 112 not far from the Homestead Rd intersection. It was at the first house on the left and can be seen from the road.

** Brian Coyle has been hearing a pair of GREAT HORNED OWLS hooting back and forth to one another for the past month behind his Upper Mountain Rd. home. It's that time of year when pairs are announcing territorial rights and bonding.

** Gabriel Gallant shares more of the “snowbirds air show” he's enjoying in his Saint Antoine feeder yard out his front window.

** Brian Stone caught the occultation of the star Aldebaran with the moon at 10:45 on Tuesday evening. An occultation is when one body passes behind the other. Brian got a photo approximately 1 hour before Aldebaran passed behind the moon and again approximately 5 minutes after it appeared on the other side. The skies were hazy when we all left the Nature Moncton meeting last night but things cleared enough for Brian to capture the event.

** On a tip from Louise Nichols I made a fast visit to the University of Moncton courtyard area where 50+ WAXWINGS were feeding on the abundant mountain ash crop. The blend was approximately 85% CEDAR WAXWINGS with the remnants BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS and a few AMERICAN ROBINS. We are just not accustomed to seeing large flocks of CEDAR WAXWINGS in midwinter so it was an awesome experience to see both species together and note the very obvious difference in size, The much softer chatter of the CEDAR WAXWINGS compared to the BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS, the white edge of the wing of the cedar waxwing where as the bohemian waxwing has the white slash across the wing and the white edging above and below the black mask of the cedar waxwing where it is only below in the Bohemian waxwings. That big cinnamon under tail covert of the Bohemian waxwings is always a great field mark for them. I am adding the one poor view of the two species ‘butt to butt”.

Louise estimated approximately 150 birds were present by later afternoon.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton