Nature Moncton Nature News: April 26 2020

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, April 26, 2020 (Sunday)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Transcript by: David Christie maryspt@mac.com

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

** Gail Mills and Yves Poussart got some more photos of the feeding frenzy going on at Pointe-du-Chêne wharf area on Friday and Saturday. One photo shows gulls [goélands] actively catching the HERRING [Hareng atlantique] and fighting over the booty. Other photos show NORTHERN GANNETS [Fou de Bassan] making their spectacular dives, and if one looks at some of the photos carefully, SEALS [phoque] can be seen among them. Yves Poussart got a nice portrait of one seal. There are a lot of photos shared today but enjoy each one as the action will subside as soon as the Herring spawn completes. One has to wonder what stops the seals from grabbing some of the birds as prey. They must be easier to catch than the herring.

** David and Anita Cannon walked around the Irishtown Nature Park on Saturday afternoon. They comment that the lake seemed devoid of waterfowl at the moment. However, a bright male YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER [Pic maculé] was ready to greet them on the woods trails. The genders of this woodpecker are quite similar except for the red throat of the male, while his female counterpart sports a white throat.

** Brian Farrell and Ron Steeves spent about 4 1/2 hours at the New Horton Church on Saturday. It was a beauty of a day as far as getting a tan goes, but for birds there was nothing migrating that they could see. Ron comments that maybe they needed their eyes tested but they did not see a single bird that they could determine to be migrating, and that includes any ducks, raptors or songbirds. A bit of a bust, but guess what! They are planning to do it again today. What really gets them going is that stop at MacDonald’s on the way through Riverview!

** Yvette Richard photographed a very handsome male LONG-TAILED DUCK [Harelde kakawi] off Caiissie Cape wharf on Saturday. It appears to be going into breeding plumage. We will not be seeing this duck much longer, as it has no doubt filed flight plans north to its summer breeding grounds Yvette also got photos of a pair of SURF SCOTER [Macreuse à front blanc] and COMMON EIDER [Eider à duvet] at the wharf on Saturday.

** Don Hayston and Brian Stone (same house) visited the Shepody and New Horton area on Saturday. An adult and immature BALD EAGLE [Pygargue à tête blanche] were perched, watching over the Shepody Dam, as was a SONG SPARROW [Bruant chanteur] watching them.

The Lars Larsen Marsh area was hosting at least 15 to 20 GREAT BLUE HERONS [Grand Héron] that alternately hid in the long marsh grass at a great distance then would fly over to the Lars Larsen Marsh and hide in the cat-tails. RING-NECKED DUCKS [Fuligule à collier] were present, as well as roadside FLICKERS [Pic flamboyant].

Many folk in different areas of New Brunswick enjoyed and were fascinated by the fly pass of satellites at approximately 9:35 PM Saturday evening. As Catherine Johnson commented, if one saw it and didn’t know what was happening, it could be quite alarming! Congratulations to all those lucky folk. However, the view from Moncton for some reason was extremely dim and very easily missed.

** An interesting scenario on Saturday. Like many, I needed the services of a barber really bad, so decided to shave off the mop of head hair myself, with limited help from and a protest from Pat, with a cast on her right arm. I put all the hair into a suet cage and hung it up in the yard. In less than 5 minutes a pair of Black-capped Chickadees [Mésange à tête noire] had found it and were carrying beaks full of hair to their nearby nest-box. It was quite a surprise. Guess what’s going to be hung up in suet cages from now on. If I ever get to a barber soon, I’ll go with a bag and ask for offerings. Photos of the covid-19 haircut are not available, and hopefully never will be!

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton