Nature Moncton Nature News: Sept 20 2017

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, September 20, 2017 (Wednesday)

Please advise editor at nelson@nb.sympatico.ca if any errors are noted in wording or photo labeling.

For more information on Nature Moncton, check into the website at www.naturemoncton.com

Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelson@nb.sympatico.ca
Transcript by: Catherine Johnson johnson2@xplornet.com
Info Line # 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)
To respond by e-mail, please address your message to the information line editor nelson@nb.sympatico.ca.

A very special thank you to Kevin Craig who came to Nature Moncton on Tuesday evening to give a presentation on Black bears to a very attentive full house

of members and visitors. Kevin went over the life and times of the Black Bear in New Brunswick in all four seasons to provide an excellent understanding to the behaviour of this mammal we share our space with. It was a very special presentation.

For the second half of the meeting the new Executive Director of the Petitcodiac Watershed Alliance, Lindsay Gauvin, and Nature Moncton member, gave a presentation of several projects the Petitcodiac Watershed Association is working on and will keep Nature Moncton up to date on these ongoing projects.

**Brian Stone gave a photo roundup of a several day visit to Kejimkujik Park recently with an awesome set of photos of nature at the park.

**There were more reports and show and tell specimens from the spring's Nature Moncton's Swallow Box Project that entertained and rewarded participants. Most boxes were occupied and some not that will be waiting for tenants next year.

Judy Marsh brought in the removed nests from her two boxes. One nest box shows broken eggs to indicate failure and the second nest shows some of the debris left at the bottom of the nest to indicate success. Photos are attached.

Mac Wilmot brought in one nest box to clearly show a BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE had nested in it with the tell tale construction of material of moss. FLYING SQUIRRELS had taken one of Mac's other nests and had the box nearly filled with nesting materials which Mac left in situ until sure they were finished with it.

The best news of all was from Fred Richards who said he would do it all again this year and start on the construction of 50 boxes in about a month to be distributed free to interested participants. Roger Leblanc will be acquiring the lumber and Nature Moncton will pay for all materials. Some have already given their names to reserve nest boxes for next season. For those interested feel free to respond to the daily mail out to give your name, phone number and how many houses you would like. You can also reserve them by sending the same via email to nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

**There is still lively shorebird action at Johnson's Mills. There was an excellent high tide there on Tuesday. Bruce Coates, Jackie Johnson and site manager Kerry Lee Morris- Cormier estimated there were over 6000 SEMI-PALMATED SANDPIPERS, 300 SEMI-PALMATED PLOVERS, 6 SANDERLING, 2 DUNLIN, 1 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER and 1 RED KNOT, along just 1 km of shoreline at the site. Kerry Lee shares photos of the flock in flight and a feature photo of 1 DUNLIN, a species we will see more of from now on.

**Doreen Rossiter reports it has been an incredible year for MONARCH BUTTERFLIES in her Alma yard. They arrived earlier than usual in mid June and after that not a single day went by without seeing sometimes five to six in her flower garden at sometime during the day. Doreen comments what a difference this is from 2016 when she did not see a single monarch butterfly in her yard.

Doreen also comments it's been a great year for TURKEY VULTURES occasionally seeing as many as 17 floating overhead but most days seeing 1-5 at various times during the day.

Doreen is also noting an influx of birds to her yard. As of Tuesday 20+ SONG SPARROWS, groups of warblers moving through being able to identify YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, YELLOW WARBLER, BLACK-THROATED GREEN, 1 PALM WARBLER and occasional RED-EYED VIREOS with them. She's also seeing waves of migrating BLUE JAYS, as Dave Christie has reported, noting approximately 20 on Tuesday. Doreen comments her last RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD she saw in her yard was September 16 but does expect to see a few more stragglers.

**Aldo Dorio photographed some special shorebirds at Hay Island on Tuesday. He was able to get a close up photos of a WILSON'S SNIPE checking out the coastline as well as 2 RED KNOTS travelling together. RED KNOTS are always special. Gilles Belliveau comments to note the greenish legs, chunky appearance and the bill size/shape to help identify this species. They appear to be juvenile birds.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton