NATURE
MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, September 24, 2020 (Thursday)
To respond by e-mail, please address
your message to the information line editor, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com .
Please advise the editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com if any
errors are noted in wording or photo labelling.
For more information on Nature Moncton, check the website at www.naturemoncton.com .
Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Transcript by: Brian Stone bjpstone@gmail.com
Info Line # 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)
** The burn over area on the South
Cains River Rd. near Blackville is getting lots of attention from naturalists.
This area is much more extensive than I had originally thought and I am
attaching a link to the CBC release on it back when the fire started in June.
Pam Watters saved and shared the link below that describes the event fully.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/forest-fire-blackville-burn-1.5586516
Pam and her husband Phil Riebel also had some
interesting bird sightings when out in their boat on Miramichi Bay and
Miramichi River on Monday and Tuesday. Phil got a photo of a PARASITIC JAEGER
[Labbe parasite] as it harassed a COMMON TERN [Sterne pierregarin] colony on
Fox Island in Miramichi Bay on Monday. The Parasitic Jaeger’s modus operandi is
to harass the terns into dropping the food they are carrying and quickly
stealing it.
They were also very surprised to spot a
LEACH'S STORM-PETRELS [Océanite cul-blanc] fly up from the water near Middle
Island which is part of the estuary of the Miramichi River between Loggieville
and Chatham. It was certainly an unusual spot to come across a Storm-Petrel.
There potentially is a reason for it being there associated with Hurricane
Teddy farther south but the hurricane had not hit that area yet and when it did
on Tuesday night and Wednesday it was little more than a sniffle. Phil got a
great flight shot of the Leach’s Storm-Petrel.
** Yvette Richard got a very striking
photo of a GREAT BLUE HERON [Grand Héron] fly pass at sunset over Cocagne Bay
on Wednesday evening. Yvette calls it “The Calm After the Storm”.
** Susan Richards had an EASTERN PHOEBE
[Moucherolle phébi] flycatching on Wednesday around the roof soffit of their Taylor Village home. It briefly
landed on a wire for a nice portrait.
** Anna Tucker does an interesting few
day getaway a few times a year to book a certain room at the Comfort Inn in
Truro and Amherst where she can birdwatch from her window. Amherst is her RING-NECKED
PHEASANT [Faisan de Colchide] watching site and the Truro location room looks
out over the marshlands where she can watch raptors. On one occasion she had a RED-TAILED
HAWK [Buse à queue rousse] land on some cars outside her window for some reason
and then to nearby poles and utility wires. She shares a few photos of the
event.
** SKUNKS [Moufette] are very busy
fueling up for the winter at the moment. They like to dig holes looking for
underground fattened grubs at the moment. I am attaching a few photos of
diggings and I am very suspicious that they were done by a Skunk outside our
Miramichi camp. These diggings appeared at exactly the same time and the same
places last year. I’ve had a chat with my dog Sadie to not interfere! Crows can
do this as well but to me this is more typical of a skunk excavation as they
are done during the night.
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
