Nature Moncton Nature News: May 4 2020

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, May 4, 2020 (Monday)

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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)

** Ron Steeves comments his idea of a good day is when he sees a new bird, either as a lifer or a new one for his yard list. Dashing in and out of their trimmed cedar trees and cleaning up bird seed under the feeders in their Salisbury yard on Sunday was a BROWN THRASHER [Moqueur roux], number 187 on Ron’s yard list.

They had their first BARN SWALLOW [Hirondelle rustique] over the wetlands on Saturday and of course SORA have been back for over a week. OSPREY [Balbuzard pêcheur] are catching small fish from the river and BALD EAGLES [Pygargue à tête blanche] are just waiting for them to take flight to harass them to drop the fish. Most of the time the eagle will catch the fish in mid-air that the Osprey has dropped before it hits the ground or water.

** Dave Christie reports that he was able to identify with certainty three CLIFF SWALLOWS [Hirondelle à front blanc] around the bridge that crosses the Shepody River just past Riverside-Albert on Route 915. This is a traditional nesting site for Cliff Swallows with their numbers declining.

Also, Sunday night was another very lively evening for the spring symphony of SPRING PEEPERS [Rainette crucifère] and WOOD FROGS [Grenouille des bois] in his Mary’s Point pond. There were occasional showers over the evening and vocalizations became very loud during showers.

On Sunday Suzanne and Yves Poussart drove along the coast between Shediac and Sainte-Anne-de-Kent. Several locations proved to be particularly interesting. Several small groups of BLACK SCOTERS (Macreuse noire) were active and vocal in the Caisie Cape area. Many TREE SWALLOWS (Hirondelle bicolore) were flying around in the march close to the Rotary Park in Bouctouche. All the nesting boxes seemed to have been already requested by their new owners. The old former boardwalk has been removed and a new one may soon be built to replace it. Close to this park a group of almost 100 DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS (Cormorans à aigrettes) were standing side by side on the sand bar extending in the Bouctouche River. The double crest of the Double-crested Cormorant is clearly visible on the adults during the breeding period. Early evening Yves had the opportunity to see a BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD (Vacher à tête brune) in his Moncton yard, a first time at his home.

Yvette Richard got some nice photos of the TUFTED DUCK at the Bouctouche lagoon on Sunday. It was a windy day to have its head tuft tossing in the wind. Yvette also got a photo of it aside scaup which are in the same genus. Ring-necked Ducks are in that same genus (Aythya) as well. All have plumage similarities.

Aldo Dorio got a few photos of a HERMIT THRUSH at hay Island on Sunday. The Hermit Thrush is usually the first thrush to arrive with the exception of the American Robin which is also a thrush.

** Eric Wilson is another who has a YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER [Paruline à croupion jaune] coming to his suet feeder for the past few days. Eric is doing some house cleaning and kindly offers a Manfrotto monopod free of charge to anyone who could use it for photography of nature. Eric’s e-mail address is eric.wilson@kavokerr.com

** Fred Richards got two WOOD DUCK [Canard branchu] nest boxes installed. They were the sturdy boxes courtesy of Ducks Unlimited. They are on the site of the Memramcook River in Taylor Village, one at a pond that has been there for many years, and the other by the newly-ditched Ducks Unlimited pond just up from the old pond. If one goes for a walk along the dyke of the Memramcook River on the Taylor Village side you’ll see them both in their locations. They will be monitored and actively reported. Other duck species that sometimes use the duck boxes are the HOODED MERGANSER [Harle couronné], COMMON MERGANSER [Grand Harle], and COMMON GOLDENEYE [Garrot à oeil d’or].

** Jane LeBlanc went on a photo shoot of spring items in her St. Martins yard to include a BLOODROOT [Sanguinaire du Canada] plant that just burst into full bloom on Sunday afternoon, as well as a YELLOW-SPOTTED SALAMANDER [Salamandre maculée] in her backyard taken on Friday night, with hubby Eddie holding the light. The Yellow-spotted Salamander and BLUE-SPOTTED SALAMANDER [Salamandre à points bleus] are very active at the moment in small ponds that don’t contain fish predators.

Jane and Eddie paid a visit to Lower Jemseg on Sunday to take in the abundant nature activity there and they came across one of the PAINTED TURTLES [Tortue peinte de l’Est] out in the middle of the road, and encouraged it off the road in the direction it was travelling.

Several MUSKRATS [Rat musqué] were about, NORTHERN SHOVELERS [Canard souchet], RING-NECKED DUCKS [Fuligule à collier] and lots of OSPREY.

** Brian Coyle sends a few photos of some of the visitors to his backyard, including his now active CHIPMUNK [Suisse] and EASTERN PHOEBE [Moucherolle phébi], a WHITE-THROATED SPARROW [Bruant à gorge blanche] and in a small marsh across from his home CHIPPING SPARROW [Bruant familier] and male RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD [Carougw à épaulettes] displaying its bright epaulettes, and some TREE SWALLOWS [Hirondelle bicolore] checking out his freshly erected, crisp new swallow nest box.

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton