Nature Moncton Nature News: May 16 2020

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, 16 May 2020 (Saturday)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Transcript by: Catherine Clements

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

**Yves Poussart visited Wilson Marsh a.k.a. Bell Marsh on Friday morning. A good number of CANADA GEESE [Bernache du Canada] were present. Males were very vocal, and the females were sitting on their nests. Many nests are active, but no goslings were seen. As expected in such a place, the RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD [Carouge à epaulettes] is another abundant species. It was possible to get some photos of SWAMP SPARROWS [Bruant des marais], even if they tend to stay most of the time within the Cattails [Quenouille]. A SORA [Marouette de Caroline] was heard in two locations but not seen. Just before Yves left the site, an OSPREY [Balbuzard pêcheur] flew over the marsh, dived, and got a fish. The barbels, colour, and shape of the fish prey suggest BROWN BULLHEAD [Barbotte brune].

**Doreen Rossiter has missed most of her spring birding action due to a hip fracture; however, while recuperating, she had a visit from a BALTIMORE ORIOLE [Oriole de Baltimore] on Friday, as well as a BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER [Gobemoucheron gris-bleu]. Doreen comments that she used to get Blue-gray Gnatcatcher almost every spring, but had not seen one since 2015.

**Yvette Richard got a photo of a very well-dressed HOODED MERGANSER [Harle couronné] trying to impress a female, with an AMERICAN ROBIN [Merle d'Amérique] looking on.

**Jean and Billy Renton are at their Canaan Forks camp. A mother WHITE-TAILED DEER [Chevreuil] is across the river with a fawn that she’s still keeping hidden. They spotted a very small BLACK BEAR [Ours noir] in a nearby field. They didn’t see the mother, but she must have called, because the cub very suddenly ran full tilt back to a wooded area. Jean comments many Swallows [Hirondelle] were flying in the area on Friday, and a RIVER OTTER [Loutre de rivière] put in an appearance on the river.

**Aldo Dorio got photos of a pair of NORTHERN SHOVELER DUCKS [Canard souchet] at Hay Island on Friday. He also got a photo of the male feeding, using its effective shoveler bill. A male PURPLE FINCH [Roselin pourpré] also visited his Neguac yard. I’ve not seen a single Purple Finch at our camp feeders as yet, and they usually are very numerous by this time.

**Jane and Eddie LeBlanc walked in the woods for approximately an hour, and did see some BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLERS [Paruline noir et blanc], but on returning to their home (St. Martins) yard, were greeted by a male WHITE-THROATED SPARROW [Bruant à gorge blanche], YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS [Paruline à croupion jaune], NORTHERN PARULA WARBLER [Paruline à collier], and suspected a Vireo [Viréo].

**Bob Childs reports that he saw a PILEATED WOODPECKER [Grand Pic] perch on a utility pole on Old Coach Road in Riverview on Friday. This species seems to be appearing more in urban settings.

It can be perplexing when we come across domestic waterfowl in an area we would not normally expect to see them. This happened with Louise Nichols on Friday when she came across to Mallard/Black size ducks on the side of the road. They had a plumage that we may not expect to see in in a domestic duck. We consulted Ron Arsenault who has had more experience than most of us with domestic ducks and I’m going to quote Ron directly with his excellent response.

From Ron “These are domestic ducks. As for the breed, without knowing anything about the origin/background of these birds, in the absence of sophisticated genetic testing, it becomes an exercise in speculation. While there can be considerable uncertainty, it is still fun to speculate, but one should keep in mind the number of domestic duck breeds and the possibility of crosses and back crosses.

These ducks, to me, do not look like any of the pure breeds with which I am familiar. However, I am aware of three breeds readily available in the Maritimes that are dark in colour like the birds shown here. These are the Cayuga, Swedish Black and the Swedish Blue. To me, these ducks do not look quite right for any of these breeds, but they are reminiscent of these, more so the Cayuga than the other two. Thus, I suspect that these ducks have at least one of these breeds, more likely the Cayuga in their background mixed in with some other domestic breed.”

Thank you Ron for your interpretation.

John Filliter came across a funny photo taken a week before Christmas 2017 that he thought might provide a little comic relief during the present pandemic. The caption could read: "Can anybody help me to identify this creature? It appears to self-identify as a catbird, curled up in our bird bath.”

As naturalists, most of us are aware that domestic cats allowed to run wild are the number one killer of small wildlife in Canada which has been verified by some thoroughly conducted studies.

Sadly, John thinks that it fell victim to a Red Fox at Cap Brulé last summer.

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton