NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, February 3, 2020 (Monday)
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Info Line #: 506-384-6397
(384-NEWS)
** Rose-Alma Mallet is the lucky landlady to an ORANGE-CROWNED
WARBLER [Paruline verdâtre] visiting her Boudreau Ouest feeder yard. It is
enjoying shelled peanuts and Dwayne Bigggar’s peanut butter-suet blend.
Rose-Alma got some great photos of it. The orange crown patch rarely shows in
the field.
Rose-Alma also got a great photo of an adult male WHITE-WINGED
SCOTER [Macreuse brune] in perfect breeding plumage. Note the sharp white
crescent below the eye, the white secondary feathers showing as a white patch,
and the patterning extending down the bill, almost to the nostrils.
** After Jim Wilson’s report of the THICK-BILLED MURRES [Guillemot
de Brünnich] at Lorneville, Carmella Melanson made a pilgrimage there on Sunday.
With patience and persistence she was super-rewarded. When she got there around
11:00 AM, she was able to spot 6 of them very far off, at the limit of what she
could make out with her scope. She returned in early afternoon and didn’t see
any, but the third time was the charm, as one individual came in very close to
the rocks at the wharf, giving an excellent close and prolonged observation
opportunity, as well as an outstanding photo.
Carmella comments that
field-marks to look for when comparing with the COMMON MURRE [Guillemot
marmette] are the white line on the upper mandible (perhaps the most obvious
one), thicker bill, the bluish crown contrast with the deep brown sides of the
head and blackish brown back. Also, the Common Murre lacks the white protruding
onto the throat.
Another point: the harder black plumage of the Thick-billed
Murre versus the more dark brown plumage of the Common Murre is sometimes
obvious.
** Dale Gaskin comments that he was in the woods near his Dawson
Settlement home and there was lots of CROSSBILL [bec-croisé] activity. That was
on Saturday, but a return on Sunday, he said the activity had increased
considerably, with the area seeming to be alive with crossbills. Dale noted
that the snow was brown in many areas, covered with tossed down cone scales.
The crossbills seemed to be a bit slow arriving in big numbers but are making
up for it now.
Dale also comments on not seeing tracks of SNOWSHOE HARES [Lièvre
d’Amérique] this season, however he did see a lone trail of one on Sunday.
Nature Moncton
THICK-BILLED MURRE. FEB 2, 2020. CARMELLA MELANSON
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER.JAN 29, 2020. ROSE-ALMA MALLET
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER.JAN 29, 2020. ROSE-ALMA MALLET
WHITE-WINGED SCOTER. JAN 25, 2020. ROSE-ALMA MALLET
