Nature Moncton Nature News: Dec 10 2019

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, December 10, 2019 (Tuesday)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Transcript by: david.cannon@rogers.com

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

** Tonight, Tuesday December 10^th, is Nature Moncton Meeting night, with guest presenter Alain Clavette, on ‘Winter Birds’, beginning at 7:00 p.m. The write-up for tonight’s meeting is below.

"Flying Beauties of Winter"

Date: December 10, 2019
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: Mapleton Rotary Park Lodge (across from where Cabela’s used to be)
Speaker : Alain Clavette

Like it or not, winter is coming. In fact, for the south of the province it seems to have started early. But don’t despair -- spring will be back. And in the meantime Mother Nature will offer some very special treats along with the white stuff, such as winter birds! What are they, why and when do they come and where can one find them? To help you answer these questions and many more, Nature Moncton has lined up a great presentation on the subject with one of our top provincial bird experts. Come and meet the naturalist and birder Alain Clavette (of CBC radio fame) for an evening of beautiful photography and info-filled comments on some of the birds that you can observe in New Brunswick only during the long winter months. An added bonus will be that all the photos in the presentation will be originals taken by Alain who doubles as a very talented nature photographer. The presentation could even be a good warm-up for your ID skills which you can use at the Moncton Christmas Bird Count, scheduled for December 14th. Don’t miss this one!

All are welcome, Nature Moncton member or not.

Unfortunately, the annual shipment of Black Oil Sunflower seeds will not be arriving in time for the Tuesday meeting. Instead, there will be a delivery later in the week, to a central location in Moncton, and those with orders will be advised as to where and when, they can pick up their order.

** On Sunday, December 6^th, Georges Brun submitted two photos; each of a single PEREGRINE FALCON [Faucon pèlerin] perched on the Logo ‘A’ of the Assumption Place building in downtown Moncton. He forgot to mention that there were actually two Peregrine Falcons, obviously travelling together. Another photo shows the two birds. I cannot tell from the photos whether they were both adults, but it would be interesting to know.

** Krista Doyle photographed a buck WHITE-TAILED DEER [Cerf de Virginie] near her Lewis Mountain home that has managed to get through several hunting seasons unscathed, and is kicking up his heels in delight at getting through this one too.

Krista also got a photo of a co-operative adult NORTHERN GOSHAWK [Autour des palombes] , a raptor we don’t get to see very often. The sharp white supercilium over the eye shows nicely, and its large size is obvious, compared to the utility pole.

** Christmas Bird Count Co-ordinator, Roger Leblanc, reminds us that the Christmas Bird Count Day is this upcoming Saturday, but that Count Week runs from three days before to three days after, so Count Week begins this Wednesday and concludes next Tuesday. Even though Saturday is the day to count every bird, any other bird species of interest that you observe within the Moncton Count ‘circle’ during the other six days should also be reported. Bird Feeder yards are especially important. If you have a Feeder station, you can print out a list of birds from the Nature Moncton website at www.naturemoncton.com and please record what you see, especially on December 14^th, but also for the rest of Count Week.

** Aldo Dorio sends a photograph of a GULL with a feature that can be confusing. Note the black and red smudge on its bill. 3^rd winter gulls have a black smudge at that site but would have some grey remnants on the mantle. This may be a HERRING GULL [Goéland argenté] molting into adult plumage but I have seen adult Herring Gulls occasionally in mid-winter with this red and black smudge and I wonder if it is just an adult that has taken on some black on the red smudge as part of its winter plumage change. The head area of the gull has taken on the normal streaked head that all adult Herring Gulls do in the winter. The adult Great Black-backed Gull will continue to sport its white head all winter.

Aldo also got a photo of a first-winter ICELAND GULL [Goéland arctique]. Note the black bill and the overall light plumage. As well, Aldo photographed a GREAT BLUE HERON [Grand Héron] seemingly wondering if the ice and snow is worth it. The white crown and light upper mandible suggests it is an adult.

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton