NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, March 8, 2021 (Monday)
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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Transcript by Susan Richards susan_richards@rogers.com
**We surely are having a run of nice WEASEL [belette]observations.Lois Budd spotted one out her near Salisbury window, headed for a bush pile that Lois has been seeing Squirrels and other small rodents going into, so suspect the weasel found its lunch. It was just too quick as weasels usually are, for a photo, but Lois is on the watch.
**Before Yolande and Eudor Leblanc got up on Sunday
morning, the AMERICAN CROWS [Corneille
d'Amérique] were going crazy, all panicky. They knew there had to be something upsetting
them. They got up and looked out the
window and there it was….a BARRED OWL [Chouette
rayée]. It stayed in the front yard all day from
6:30 a.m. to 6:20 p.m. It moved 3 times
during the day, just from one branch to another in the same tree. Then after 1 p.m. to another tree and then
another tree, following the sun it seemed.
Yolande had lots of time to take pictures. It did not move when they drove out and when
they drove back in again. Yolande
comments “Gorgeous bird.”
**On July 13, 2020 George Brun got a photo that seemed
to be a mystery to all of us including the Atlantic Veterinary College Wildlife
Unit. We all tried to imagine it as some
sort of prey, but the healed-over opening could not be explained in the
neck. We were directed to Dr. James
Reynolds at the University of Birmingham UK, Ornithology department. It turns out he immediately recognized it as
a sublingual oral fistula as is studying this anomaly and doing research on it.
That photo from Georges is attached.
Mary
Boudreau from Tide Head sent a photo of 3 COMMON
MERGANSER [Grand Harle] taken on
September 15, 2020 to the Telegraph Journal.
There was an adult with 2 young.
The adult female was showing the rare sublingual oral fistula that was
once more confirmed by James Reynolds.
It seems unusual that this rare occurrence would crop up two times so
close together. Mary Boudreau comments
that she was a nurse for 30 years and never connected a fistula with a bird as
was the case for me when I first saw this anomaly.
**Andrew Darcy went for a cruise
out to Point-du-Chene wharf Sunday to see what he could see. He was expecting
some waterfowl as the water has started to open up again but was pleasantly
surprised to see some seals enjoying the beautiful sunshine as well. There were
two adult GREY SEALS and a HARBOUR SEAL present on the ice across from the
wharf. Quite distant for any great photo opportunities but snapped a few photos
and had good views through the binoculars. He was really happy to see them as
they are the first he had seen since moving to NB. (Editor's note: The Nature Moncton March meeting is a presentation on Seals in NB by Dr. Jack Terhune)
He checked out a few other spots
along the coast ( Cap-Pele, Shediac, and Cocagne). Not much other than
gulls and some AMERICAN BLACK DUCK, and a lone adult male MALLARD at Cap-Pele.
Shediac Bridge (Foch Bridge) was productive as usual and had a large group of
BARROW'S GOLDENEYE on the east side (approximately 25 individuals). It was
quite the scene as the males were performing constant breeding displays. A sure
sign spring is on the way. The west side of the bridge had a large flock of
MALLARD ducks and some female COMMON MERGANSER. Cocagne Bridge had some COMMON
MERGANSER (male and female) along with various gulls (mainly GREATER
BLACK-BACKED GULLS)
**Pat and I did a ‘turkey-trot’ in the Charlotte
County area over the past few days in search of good observations of truly WILD TURKEY [Dinde sauvage]. It was a
wonderful few days, of brilliant sunshine and Wild Turkeys. After some awesomely accurate directions from
Jim Wilson, Pat spotted a first lone Wild Turkey on the upper Waweig Road and
were feeling quite pleased. But then
started seeing small flocks. We saw a
large group near a yard and slinked up the driveway for closer looks, to have
the homeowner, Dave, come out to welcome us into his yard where he tosses out
grain and about 40 Wild Turkeys sure know it.
Dave has surely researched his Wild Turkey patrons and had a lot of
interesting information I was not aware of, probably like many of us who never
took this bird too seriously until the New Brunswick Birds Record Committee
decided the truly Wild Turkey to be present in parts of New Brunswick. They seem like a very smart bird. A lot of birds there but were still very coy
except the group in Dave’s yard. We
were able to see groups several more times on the Ledge Road near St.
Stephen. Dave comments that there are
many in his area on the road and crossing it but has never seen a roadkill. They
seemed to have a tendency to travel in single file when crossing open areas but
travelled as a loose flock in wooded areas. There was a lot of peaking though
bushes and over snowbanks!
A project for
sure for me is to go to Cornell Birds of the World and learn more about the
life and times of this bird we have in New Brunswick.
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
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