Nature Moncton Nature News: Oct 18 2017

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, October 18, 2017 (Wednesday)

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

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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

**All appreciation to Wayne Harrigan who gave a presentation to the Nature Moncton meeting on Tuesday evening on the Greater Moncton Walking Group. This group goes on hour long walks at various walking trails in the Greater Moncton area every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 8:30 am all year long except on days school is closed due to storms. For anyone interested in joining the group, contact Wayne Harrigan at 386-2187 or via email at wbharrig@nb.sympatico.ca

to get on their email list to know what trail they will be walking on what days and join them if you wish. There is no fee.

**The Nature Moncton swallow box project is again going to happen for the upcoming 2018 season thanks to our chief carpenter and engineer Fred Richards. Roger Leblanc has arranged to purchase the lumber and Fred expects to have the nest boxes built, Nature Moncton stamped and numbered, and ready to give out at the January Nature Moncton meeting. Now is the time for folks to leave their name to reserve boxes. Simply respond to the mail out or email nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

and leave your name, phone number and the number of nest boxes you want. Make sure to reserve your boxes promptly as the list is growing quickly after Fred announced it at Tuesday nights Nature Moncton meeting. 50 boxes will be built and will free to participants of the project who are asked to record and report results.

Results from last summers 50 boxes are coming in. A high percentage were successfully occupied very predominantly with TREE SWALLOWS but some were taken by BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES and at least one by FLYING SQUIRRELS.

**In response to Judy Nevin's experience reported in yesterday's edition with WASPS not being aggressive, John Massey comments he had approximately 30 wasps coming to a sugar and water container he had put out for his interest in watching the activity. He was able to pick up the container, shake off the wasps and they would simply fly around him while he refueled the container. It would suggest from these 2 scenarios wasps can learn when it's indicated to protect their food supply or territory.

John comments he picked up what he thought was an empty BALD-FACED HORNETS nest lying on a road on a cold morning some years ago and put it in his truck and then went on a forest walk. When he returned he found his truck full of unimpressed bald-faced hornets. The moral of the story is to be careful collecting bald-faced hornets nests too soon!

**Don Gibson leaves an interesting comment on the WESTERN TANAGER reported on yesterday's edition that was photographed in Lower Hainesville in the Fredericton area on May 12-14, 2014. Don reports that he along with Theresa and Peter Pearce went out to Penniac, on the other side of Fredericton to look for a male western tanager seen there on May 09, 2014. They were not able to locate it but saw a photo taken of it. Don felt there was more red on the head of the photo of the Penniac bird and as Don commented it's quite a coincidence if this was 2 western male tanagers in the centre of NB in mid-May.

**Aldo Dorio got a nice photo of a pair of NORTHERN PINTAILS at Hay Island on Tuesday. The long neck of the larger male bird is obvious. The male is not showing its spectacular breeding plumage yet but yet still in plumage similar to the female. That will soon be changing. Different Waterfowl species take on their breeding (alternate) at differing times as the season progresses.

**Brian Stone and Carol Shea paid a visit into Albert County to get to see the CRESTED CARACARA in flight at its seemingly home base, the Old Mill Rd just before a few houses before civic# 5133, route 114. That road runs behind a green house.

A MERLIN was again perched in the Shepody dam area that we had seen on Saturday, that is apparently using the area as a hunting territory. They saw the Merlin fly into a large bush to soon hear the loud sharp call of the bird as a woodpecker flew out at top speed with the Merlin in hot pursuit. That put every bird in the area in flight. They lost track of the Merlin but then found it perched on the wooden boat monument with a woodpecker in its talons.

At the Hillsborough walking trail they saw a YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER and some ducks including a male GREEN-WINGED TEAL in breeding plumage.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton