NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE,
May 30, 2018 ( Wednesday)
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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelson@nb.sympatico.ca
Transcript by: Judy Marsh
marshj @nbnet.nb,ca
Info Line # (384-NEWS)
** Sybil Wentzell in Harvey
has had an INDIGO BUNTING [Passerin indigo] dropping by her feeder yard the
past few days. Sybil feels it may be the same one that has been seen at other
feeder yards in the area. But, if it is, it would seem to be showing less brown
areas than earlier photos seem to show. If it is indeed the same one, possibily
it is a first year male molting into breeding plumage. Sybil comments it is a
very shy bird coming and going and getting the great photos that she did had to
be done with care.
** Jim Johnson had a good day
around his Scotch Settlement yard. He has two pairs of CLIFF SWALLOW
[Hirondelle à front blanc] building mud nests under the eaves of two garages.
New nest sites of this in trouble swallow species is always welcome news. These
two pairs have surely chosen the right yard to build in as they will be
protected and nest undisturbed.
Jim had an EASTERN BLUEBIRD [Merlebleu de l'Est]
checking things out. He has kept putting up an extra bird box to make one
available for a bluebird pair as his
posse of TREE SWALLOWS [Hirondelle bicolore] keep taking all the boxes.
Jim also saw a NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD [Moqueur polyglotte] drop by his yard on
Tuesday.
** Roger LeBlanc and Alain
Clavette did a birding run from the Germantown Marsh to Fundy Narional Park on
Tuesday, tallying ninety-one different bird species and that included no gulls.
So, as Roger suggests, a day of 100 species is not out of range at the moment
during migration. They saw 18 different Warbler species, that included MOURNING
WARBLER [Paruline triste], CANADA WARBLER [Paruline du Canada], TENNESSEE
WARBLER [Paruline obscure] and lots of BAY-BREASTED WARBLER [Paruline à
poitrine baie] at Fundy National Park. The Tennessee Warblers were singing
robustly. Roger comments it is a great time to get out and go birding.
** Krista shares a photo of
an adult male BOBOLINK [Goglu des prés] from her Lewis Mountain home, as well
as a female YELLOW WARBLER [Paruline jaune]. Note, the female Yellow
Warbler lacks the reddish breast stripes
of her male kin. Again, so great to hear of all the Bobolink reports. Let's
hope many of them will find fallow fields to make their ground nests, so
nesting can be complete before early forage cuts are made on agricultural
fields.
** Sue Richards reports of
the nine swallow nest boxes they have out on the marsh on the Memramcook River
in front of their Taylor Village home now have four Tree Swallow pairs around
them.
** Nice to hear of another
Eastern Bluebird pair taking up residence. Aldo Dorio has a pair moving into a
nest box in his Neguac yard doing their required nest preparations.
** A few years ago Cornell
University did a research project on nesting tubes made from PVC pipe tubing,
designed for BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE [Mésange à tete noire] and RED-BREASTED
NUTHATCH [Sittelle à poitrine rousse] and had reported good success with them.
I made some up at the time and had Black-capped Chickadees using some of them
both at home and at our camp. This year one is being used by a Black-capped
Chickadee pair at home and suspect one is in use at the camp. At the moment the
Chickadees are acting coy. A bird appears at the hole, drops something off and
quickly leaves. I suspect it is probably a male bird dropping off snacks to an
incubating female. I have never had a Red-breasted Nuthatch use one of the
tubes, even though there are lots around the camp area. The one photographed is
painted. The one at the camp is white and on a white birch tree blends in very
well with the background. I am suspecting this is a significant factor.
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE OCCUPIED NEST TUBE.MAY 29, 2018. NELSON POIRIER
BOBOLINK (MALE).MAY 28, 2018. KRISTA
EASTERN BLUEBIRD. MAY 29, 2018. ALDO DORIO
EASTERN BLUEBIRD. MAY 29, 2018. ALDO DORIO
INDIGO BUNTING. MAY 28, 2018. SYBIL WENTZELL
INDIGO BUNTING. MAY 28, 2018. SYBIL WENTZELL
TREE SWALLOW TAKING RESIDENCE.MAY 28, 2018. SUE RICHARDS
YELLOW WARBLER (FEMALE).MAY 28, 2018. KRISTA