Nature Moncton Nature News: May 10 2020

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, May 10, 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)

** Gordon Rattray had an interesting bird visit his Weldon yard. On getting the photos I thought at first that it looked like a first fall PINE WARBLER [Paruline des pins] but felt it would have more colour by spring. On checking with Gilles Belliveau’s, he comments that he thinks it is a Pine Warbler all right. He commented that he has seen some very dull female Pine Warblers in spring and early summer before. I would assume that this is a first spring female although most would show more bright plumage than this one. The wet day probably did not brighten up the photo.
On Saturday, Gordon had 19 species show up in his Weldon feeder yard. Another, slightly brighter, Pine Warbler arrived. PURPLE FINCH [Roselin pourpré] were more prevalent, and a YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER [Pic maculé] that had been drumming on metal for the past week to announce its territory and impress potential females, did take a break to drill a few sap-holes.
** It’s obviously White-crowned Sparrow [Bruant à couronne blanche] migration time, from reports the last few days. Stella LeBlanc spotted one in their Bouctouche feeder yard on Friday and it returned Saturday. The fluorescent white head band shows nicely.
Fred Richards got a photo of a male YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER [Pic maculé] that drilled a line of holes in a tree to extract sap. The holes appear very fresh in Fred’s photo. The bird drinks the exposed sweet sap. RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRDS [Colibris à gorge rubis] will take advantage of sapsucker holes to get the sweet liquid as well.

** Mac Wilmot has a roofless Wood Duck [Canard branchu] box in his yard. He was very surprised to find a female MALLARD [Canard colvert] duck had nested in it and is incubating a clutch of 10 eggs. It seems odd for a Mallard to use a cavity or a nest box but they are known to choose an odd spot sometimes. They are normally ground nesters.

** An AMERICAN ROBIN [Merle d’Amérique] will often build a nest in a surprise spot. Kathy Breaton was surprised to find that a Robin had built a nest in an ornamental wreath on the front door of her home.

** There was construction going on in the street behind Verica LeBlanc’s home in Miramichi, where they were tearing down a garage. A Groundhog (Woodchuck) [Marmotte commune] was displaced. Last year it sheltered under a neighbour’s shed. On Saturday morning, in spite of it starting to snow heavily, it decided it still had to eat and proceeded to feed on the emerged grass. As it started to snow harder, it took shelter but resurfaced from time to time even though the snowfall became heavier. Wildlife sure has to adapt with the conditions.

** Jane LeBlanc got a photo of a DOWNY WOODPECKER [Pic mineur] very serious about a food item or excavating a nest. Note the two small black marks on each of its outer tail feathers that a HAIRY WOODPECKER [Pic chevelu] does not have and which separates the two species when one cannot see other distinguishing features. Jane also got a photo of one of our EMPIDONAX flycatchers [Moucherolle] that is difficult to ID from plumage alone as they are so similar. Their vocalization usually easily separates them, and habitat helps as well when not in migration.

** Brian Stone has been a bit under the weather the past few days. A CHIPPING SPARROW [Bruant familier] made a call on him and, as expected, got photographed. The Chipping Sparrow is the only one where the black eye-line goes right to the bill as the arrow shows.

** We have some colourful lichens that happily grow on seashore rocks, seemingly an inhospitable harsh place to set up shop. On February 3^rd, I photographed a MARITIME SUNBURST LICHEN (Xanthoria parietina) and the ELEGANT SUNBURST LICHEN (Xanthoria elegans) that come in yellows and orange which Kendra Driscoll at the New Brunswick Museum confirmed. Stephen Clayden identified a third as the Molybdenum Cracked Lichen (Acarospora molybdina), which grows only on Maritime coastal rocks. These were all photographed at the Lorneville wharf. It was a pleasant diversion from trying to convince ourselves we were seeing Thick-billed Murres at an unreasonable distance!

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton