Nature Moncton Nature News: Jan 25 2020

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, 25 January 2020 (Saturday)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Transcript by: Catherine Clements

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

**Jim Wilson shares some very interesting information in follow-up to the CAROLINA WREN [Troglodyte de Caroline] chatter of yesterday. Jim says “a pair of Carolina Wrens appeared at a residence in Westfield near Saint John a few years ago, also in mid-winter. First there was one, later two. They hung around till March, when one began to sing occasionally, with progressive frequency. Sometime in April, they began carrying nest material into a birdhouse erected for TREE SWALLOWS [Hirondelle bicolore] at the peak of a shed. At that point, the owners decided they would keep the nesting news quiet to avoid disturbance of the pair. The Wrens raised a brood successfully by early June, and after a few weeks started nest-building again in an abandoned former bird feeder right next to their deck. They raised a second brood there before summer’s end. By the next summer, all had disappeared, and as far as Jim knows, they never came back. This was only the second known successful nesting in New Brunswick. The first was at the Marathon Inn on Grand Manan a few years before, also a two-nesting summer. Jim suggested that if there are no birdhouses on the Riverview property, it would be nice to have one or two erected before too long.”

Following Jim’s advice, 3 Nature Moncton nest boxes will be delivered/erected in the area.

**After seeing Rose-Alma Mallet’s report from their Thursday outing, Gordon Rattray made a run to the Harvey area, seeing 3 female COMMON MERGANSER [Grand Harle] around the Harvey dam. At John Inman’s 225 Mary’s Point Road feeder, he found approximately 20 AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS [Bruant hudsonien], 2 SONG SPARROWS [Bruant chanteur], 1 brilliant male NORTHERN CARDINAL [Cardinal rouge], and a RED-TAILED HAWK [Buse à queue rousse]. At the Larsen Marsh, he spotted a NORTHERN HARRIER [Busard Saint-Martin] and a pair of MALLARD DUCKS [Canard colvert]. At Mary’s Point, Gordon saw 2 DARK-EYED JUNCOS [Junco ardoisé], 10 PINE SISKINS [Tarin des pins], and a pair of WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS [Bec-croisé bifascié], and got several great photos. At his home in Weldon, he had a male PURPLE FINCH [Roselin pourpré] arrive on Friday morning. Purple Finch are starting to show up more at feeder yards.

**An always interesting report from the feeder yard of Wayne Corcoran, who lives in McKinleyville, route 118 outside Miramichi. Wayne’s feeder yard seems to be the EVENING GROSBEAK [Gros-bec errant] capital of New Brunswick at the moment, in the 140-160 range. Brian Stone and I were sleuthing that route two years ago and spotted some Evening Grosbeaks. We turned back to investigate and were awestruck at the sheer numbers present. That activity continues. Wayne’s AMERICAN GOLDFINCH [Chardonneret jaune] numbers are approximately 40, and he had his first PURPLE FINCH [Roselin pourpré] of the year come to his yard on Friday. He also has CANADA JAYS [Mésangeai du Canada] that do not come to his main feeders but are resident on a woods trail behind his home. He has seen 4 there at the same time recently that show their gratitude quickly when Wayne visits the area with morsels of bread.

**Krista Doyle caught some photos of a 22 degree solar halo around the sun as it rose into the sky on Friday morning with just the right conditions to create this phenomenon. Brian Stone suggests to review the attached site to understand what creates these solar halos, and what or what not they may mean.

https://www.atoptics.co.uk/halo/circular.htm

Bev Schneider came across 16 Honey Bees dead on the snow surface of a trail to wonder the reason. Glen Nichols is a bee keeper in Aulac and in consult with his thoughts shares the following interesting information to be aware of if we see Honey Bees dead on the snow or moving about in winter. Louise shares Glen’s comments…

“Your email is timely because I was going to send you the attached photos of dead Honey Bees in the snow. I double-checked with Glen on this. Bees are active in the hive all winter. On warmer days, they will take short flights to defecate called "cleansing flights". Around Glen's hives right now are some brown/yellow spots which are the bees' "evacuations." They may also leave the hive to die (or if they die in the hive, their bodies will be thrown out) -- and again, around Glen's hives there are a number of dead bees. The two I photographed, however, I found Friday in the snow some distance from the hives, so they must have flown across the yard which is pretty neat for this time of year!”

Glen also suggests visiting the attached site which explains this scenario.

https://www.honeybeesuite.com/happiness-mid-winter-cleansing-flight/

**Jane LeBlanc reports it has been 20 years since they went to the Sheffield Mills site in the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia to attend the Eagle [Pygargue à tête blanche] weekends designed for visits. They went this year on January 22nd and 23rd (Wednesday and Thursday) and share some photos. One photo shows one bird as being leg-banded, as per the arrow on the photo. The official Eagle weekends this year are January 25-26 and February 1-2. Jane suggests it is a plan to not necessarily go on the weekends, as up to 1,000 people attend, and may tend to spook the Eagles. The farm site that is traditionally watched will be putting out chicken carcasses until March, so there’s still time to pay a visit after the weekends. It’s a good plan to peruse some of the surrounding areas and visit the dykeland areas, as other raptors like ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS [Buse pattue], RED-TAILED HAWKS [Buse à queue rousse], and other surprises can show up.

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton