NATURE
MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, October 15, 2020 (Thursday)
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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Transcript by: Brian Stone bjpstone@gmail.com
Info Line # 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)
** It is apparent that PINE SISKINS
[Tarin des pins] are flocking in the area at the moment. Jamie Burris had a
flock of 30 + land in his Riverview back yard on Wednesday morning and were
gathering in grapevines. Jamie comments that he has never had this happen
before. Jamie’s report follows Aldo Dorio’s of yesterday of seeing Pine Siskins
gathering at Hay Island and Lois Budd is having some patronize her feeder yard
as well. Maybe we are in for a Pine Siskin winter.
** David Lilly got an excellent photo
of a young-of-the-year HERMIT THRUSH [Grive solitaire] in his Oromocto yard
earlier in the season. The spotting on the crown of the head and the mantle
help to separate the Hermit Thrush juvenile from other thrushes, with the
exception of the American Robin.
** Gordon Rattray sends photos of his
Weldon yard bird patrons on Wednesday. It’s always nice to see WHITE-BREASTED
NUTHATCHES [Sittelle à poitrine blanche] that seem to be at a premium in the
Moncton area. Gordon had 4 PURPLE FINCHES [Roselin pourpré] come by. It is to
be remembered that the male Purple Finches do not take on their reddish plumage
until the second year, so young- of- the- year males may appear in female
plumage. House Finch males do molt into red tones in their plumage in their
first fall.
** Lois Budd shares a photo of the
differences between PINE SISKIN [Tarin des pins] and AMERICAN GOLDFINCH
[Chardonneret jaune]. She comments that these 2 species can sometimes frustrate
her when they are both at her sunflower chip feeder. Except for their size and
their bill the female PURPLE FINCH [Roselin pourpré] can also be hard to
distinguish. The Purple Finch in Lois’s photo is probably a female or a young-of-the-year
male as the reddish tones on it could well be from background red colour
reflecting in the photo. It is always great to hear feeder reports and what feed
and feeders are favoured.
** Suzanne Rousseau came across an
immature male COMMON EIDER [Eider à duvet] on the Sussex trail and it let her
get within 6 feet of it. It may have been injured but sometimes when seabirds
like eiders get stranded on land they have difficulty lifting off in flight, so
it may have just needed a rest before attempting to get airborne. The
flightless stage of eclipse should be long past by now so that was probably not
a factor.
** A Nature Moncton field trip to visit
a few of the local lagoons for waterfowl, especially at a time of potential
migration for some of them, was scheduled for this coming Saturday, October 17th.
Due to the increase in Covid-19 restrictions in the area this event is cancelled
and cannot be rescheduled due to seasonal timing and uncertainty about future
restrictions.
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
