Nature Moncton Nature News: April 28 2018

Nature Moncton Nature Information Line, April 28 (Saturday)

To respond by email, please address your message to the Information Line Editor, nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Please advise the Editor if any errors are noted in wording or photo labelling.

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

Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Transcript by: Catherine Clements

Info Line #: 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)

**Catherine Hamilton got a photo of a sow BLACK BEAR [Ours noir] near Petitcodiac on April 23rd. The cubs are too large for young of the year, so I assume that they are a year plus a few months of age, that were born last year and denned with their mother over the winter. Catherine also got some nice flight photos of a NORTHERN HARRIER [Busard Saint-Martin] on April 26th, a male AMERICAN KESTREL [Crécerelle d'Amérique] on April 26th, and a pair of BLUE-WINGED TEAL [Sarcelle à ailes bleues] in Salisbury on April 24th.

**Georges Brun came across two GREAT EGRETS [Grande Aigrette] on Friday afternoon in the Chartersville Dieppe Marsh. Both seemed very relaxed. They eventually moved farther into the marsh to feed in the marshy vegetation. A pair of CANADA GEESE [Bernache du Canada] paid little attention to their nearby presence. One of them seemed to have brownish tail plumes. On his return trip home, Georges heard a loud chorus of SPRING PEEPERS [Rainette crucifère] near the corner of Millennium Boulevard and Grand Trunk Street in Moncton. This was heard during the day, in bright sunshine.

**Elaine Gallant came across a GREAT EGRET [Grande Aigrette] on the small marsh on St.John Street in Pointe-du-Chêne. She watched it enjoy four fish for lunch before leaving. Elaine also saw a brightly-plumaged RED-NECKED GREBE [Grèbe jougris] by the Pointe-du-Chêne Wharf.

**Ron Steeves did another vigil at the New Horton church area on Friday. On arrival, the fog was so thick over the area that the closest house was invisible, so he decided to hang out until 10:00. As Ron has good connections, it started to clear at 9:45 a.m. An interesting day for Hawks [Buse], but most of them went to the south along the ridge, along the basin. Ron could identify some as BROAD-WINGED HAWKS [Petite Buse] and suspected most others were the same. He tallied 51 raptors he felt to be migrating, including 3 SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS [Épervier brun], 2 OSPREY [Balbuzard pêcheur], 1 MERLIN [Faucon émerillon], and 2 immature RED-TAILED HAWKS [Buse à queue rousse] . He had 2 flocks of 9 and 11 CORMORANTS [Cormoran] and 3 GREAT BLUE HERONS [Grand Héron]. An awesome reward for the day was a BLUE GROSBEAK [Guiraca bleu] that lit in the bushes at the end of the church parking lot, but surprisingly, few other songbirds for a day that ended up so pleasant.

**Gabriel Gallant came across an interesting WILSON'S SNIPE [Bécassine de Wilson] scenario as he drove along Route 490 as they foraged in a field near the Ammon Road. He was able to watch them for approximately five minutes. What was so interesting was how synchronized their movements were. They would run hurriedly together, then stop a few seconds to probe the earth, again in synchrony, and then move to repeat the procedure all the time Gabriel watched them. It was early morning light, and Gabriel could not get the photos that he would have liked to, but the activity and the birds that we don’t tend to see too often show nicely. Gabriel also saw his first EASTERN KINGBIRD [Tyran tritri] of the season in his yard on Friday evening.

**Jim Johnson in Scotch Settlement reports he has, as of Friday, eight TREE SWALLOWS [Hirondelle bicolore] fighting over the eleven nest boxes he has out on his property. Eight of the eleven boxes were occupied last year. He is also seeing NORTHERN HARRIER [Busard Saint-Martin], KESTREL [Crécerelle], and lots of Sparrows [Bruant] back.

**Aldo Dorio got a documentary photo of a YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER [Pic maculé] back at Hay Island on Friday. He also got a photo of a HORNED LARK [Alouette hausse-col] there, as well as another documentary photo of a PALM WARBLER [Paruline à couronne rousse] but the brilliant plumage does show. Also a SAVANNAH SPARROW [Bruant des prés] popped into the foray. Aldo also got some nice photos of a female BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD [Vacher à tête brune], a bird that very frequently gets questions on its identity when seen.

**Jean-Paul LeBlanc was able to get a photo of the BALD EAGLE [Pygargue à tête blanche] occupying the OSPREY [Balbuzard pêcheur] nest that had been used last year in the Bouctouche area, that happens to be a very large nest, as the photo shows, but was built by Osprey. This nest is near Linda Street off Chemin Saint-Joseph on the south side of the Bouctouche River.

**I was pleased to find my first RED-BELLIED SNAKE [Couleuvre à ventre rouge] under the plastic boot mats I keep to attract them at our camp yard. This one is a brown morph. There’s also a dark morph that should be joining its kin very soon. They are appearing much earlier than last year. I assume the heavy snow load kept the ground warmer, and as soon as the snow receded over the mats, the ground was warm enough for them to come to life.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton