Nature Moncton Nature News: Aug 17 2016

**A reminder heads up of the Shorebirds Workshop scheduled for August 27 is added to this transcription below. Registration is encouraged to get a handle on the number of participants.

HERE COME THE SHOREBIRDS

Workshop and Field Trip with Roger Leblanc

Saturday August 27, 2016

Even though we’re smack in the middle of a beautiful summer, autumn migration (although some don’t like to think about it J) has already started. No, not so much those confusing autumn warblers or hard to differentiate flycatchers yet, but shorebirds. Now the simple mention of shorebirds brings a glazed look to the eyes of many who are just starting out in birding -- and for good reasons! There are many species of them and they are often seen in mixed flocks. Plus here, we mostly see them at this time of year, when they are going into drab basic or winter plumage that is essentially the same for all: a bi-colored combination of dark gray on top alternating with pale gray on the bottom -- great for hiding from predators but not so good for birders. Add to that that they are more often seen from afar, out in marshes or mud flats, and it is understandable that some just call them peeps and move on to more “reasonable” birds. But that would be an error. Shorebirding can be lots of fun and we are in fact fortunate in this region that we have some shorebird migration phenomena that are world class and of global importance. But all this brings us back to the dilemma: How am I supposed to identify those little gray birds all the way out there on the mud flat that just won’t stand still and kind of all sound the same?

Well once again Nature Moncton is coming to the rescue. On Saturday August 27^th we will be offering a practical workshop on shorebirds. Following our recent successful approach to combine an indoor presentation with a hands-on field outing, we will also go out to observe what we have learned. So rather than tackling the 30+ species that you might expect to see at different times of the year in the province we will focus on the 15 or so that we can reasonably expect to see here now. Our own Roger Leblanc will lead this workshop/outing and will share with us the tricks of the trade that he has honed over several decades for putting names on most of these shorebirds of autumn. In the workshop he will focus on ID field marks but also habitats, behaviors and other devices that, all put together, help expert birders more easily and quickly call birds. So if you have been hoping to find something to do bird-wise to bridge the extravaganza of spring birding and the allure of autumn rarities, this is your chance. Don’t miss it!!

Saturday August 27^th

Workshop from 1:00 pm to 3:00; Field trip will follow and will likely go into the early evening, so bring a sandwich and some snacks.

Tankville School, 1665 Elmwood Dr.

Registration with Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca, or phone Louise at 939-5054.

Cost of workshop is $8 payable at the door . All are welcome, Nature Moncton member or not.

** Bring binoculars (and a scope if you have one) and bring footwear that will enable you to walk on a beach.

**On Tuesday, in honour of the centennial of The Migratory Birds Convention, interpreter Eric Brueing and Kerry Lee Morris-Cormier from the Johnson's Mills interpretive Centre ventured to Pink Rock at high tide and saw over 20,000 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS and hundreds of SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS. On their drive there they saw up to 10,000 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS. These birds joined a flock of about 40,000 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS that roosted near the interruptive centre for more than 3 hours.

70,000 birds roosted at Mary's Pt. Tuesday on the main beach. Hopewell Rocks did not see any birds.

**Susan Richards was on Campobello Island on Monday to photograph a SPOTTED SANDPAPER juvenile on an offshore rock with fog as a background.

**Brian Stone shares some of the photos he is getting in Perth Ontario of some of the familiar to NB critters that include a WOOD DUCK in eclipse plumage, a TURKEY VULTURE, a large AMERICAN TOAD, an EASTERN KINGBIRD and a sign warning about WILD PARSNIP. We have a lot of wild parsnip in NB along roadsides and in waste areas.

**Aldo Dorio got a photo of a MERLIN falcon and a young-of-the-year NORTHERN HARRIER on Monday and Tuesday.

**TURTLEHEAD is a wild plant now coming into full bloom. I noted a patch in a wet roadside area on Tuesday to photograph it. The blooms surly do suggest how it got its name!

**Some photos went out in yesterday's edition missing the written explanation of AMERICAN GOLDFINCH foraging on chicory going to seed. These were contributed by John Filliter who commented the chicory bushes were very popular fare for the GOLDFINCH and his Cape Brûlée feeder yard is very lively at the moment.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton