NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, December
30, 2020 (Wednesday)
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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)
** Debbie Batog had several
caterpillars traveling over the snow at her McKee’s Mills location recently.
They were LARGE YELLOW UNDERWING MOTH CATERPILLARS that overwinter as
caterpillars and can be found moving about on mild days as the season has been
recently. This moth is actually non-native, being accidentally introduced into
the Maritimes circa 1979 and has very rapidly spread south and west. It must
have remarkable biological antifreeze techniques as there is no hairy body to
help protect it as the Woolly Bear Caterpillar, which also overwinters, has.
** Jane Leblanc is enjoying a brightly
plumaged WHITE-THROATED SPARROW [Bruant à gorge blanche] that has been
patronizing her St. Martins yard for a week now and it posed nicely for a
photo.
** Nature Moncton did a trial
experiment using artificial clay nests to support CLIFF SWALLOW nesting a few
years ago. Ross Galbraith shares an interesting account he did with a similar
more involved scenario and has a small colony at Point de Bute he got started
from a manmade clay nest. This small colony has been active for approximately 15
years. It started from a female and 3 fledglings that Ross captured/relocated
from CFB Gagetown under conditions of a valid Canadian Wildlife Services
Migratory Bird Convention Act permit. Ross worked as an MBCA Game Officer then
and had also relocated other Cliff Swallows. He placed the 4 birds in the artificial
nest and stoppered the hole for a day. Then he opened the nest and the birds
left slowly. As hoped they adopted the nest, returning to it at night. Over
time the colony has fared quite well and has built 2 natural nests with the
artificial nest as a supporting foundation. The first nest, on the right, was
started by a Barn Swallow and then finished by Cliff Swallows. It seemed as if
he had to show the Cliff Swallows how to do it.
The artificial nest is firmly mounted
on a plywood mounting bracket. Cliff Swallows need a rough, preferably natural
surface on which to anchor their clay nests. Vinyl facia and siding do not
satisfy these criteria and they need to nest under north or east eaves in his
experience as too much sunlight overheats them. The past summer was a better
year for the colony as all 3 nests were very active and Ross estimated that 15
birds headed south and that result is from a flock of 5 or 6 birds that arrived
in the spring. These nests are about 18 feet high and never have full sun on
them. Ross sends a photo of what the nests looked like on December 29th.
** Brian Stone went out on Tuesday along the coast. A flock of approximately 18 COMMON REDPOLLS [Sizerin flammé] landed on the ground at Cassie Cape wharf and a few distant BLACK SCOTERS [Macreuse noire] were at each place he stopped, especially at the St. Thomas wharf.
Later Tuesday evening Brian noticed the rising Moon peeking over the house in back of him so he recorded it. One photo is enlarged greatly and shows all the craters and lava flows that Galileo saw back in 1610 thinking that they may be seas with his primitive optics.
** Ray Gauvin was also out 'mooning’
Tuesday night to get some photos. Ray referred to it as the COLD MOON. A check
with Mr. Google provided the comment below:
“The
Native American names for the full moon in December — as reported in the Farmer's Almanac — are the Cold
Moon or the Long Night Moon. The Cold Moon gets its name because December is the month when it
really starts to get cold, although our coldest average
temperatures are in January.”
** Bird feeders seem to have been a bit
slower in areas where there is no snow yet as the birds are finding lots of
natural food. I hope folks are still getting lots of NORTHERN CARDINAL
[Cardinal rouge] visits. We still have our pair visiting daily but I am
noticing that they don’t arrive together and they only stay for brief periods.
All the other expected regulars are coming, but just in less numbers and less
frequently.
** Pat Gibbs reports she saw 5 Blue Jays, 1 small male Ring-necked Pheasant, 1 European
Starling and 1 American Crow before breakfast this morning. There does seem to be a lot of Blue Jays still at
feeders. ‘Most’ Blue Jays migrate south. I wonder if the warmer weather is keeping
a few more here this season
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
