Nature Moncton Nature News: Nov 9 2022

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

November 9, 2022

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Edited by Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

**Richard Blaquiere reports things seem fairly quiet at the
Hampton lagoons at the moment. (Editor’s note: we are all well aware how quickly that can change).

However, on Monday, November 7, Richard found a colour marked Ring-billed Gull among the gulls roosting on the McAllister Mall parking lot. He sent the information
and photos to Gull Research Group headed by Prof. Giroux at the University of Quebec in Montreal. The very prompt reply indicated that this bird was banded 2 years ago as subadult female on 26 June 2020, on Ile Deslauries, an island in the St Lawrence River just NE of Montreal. It was observed again
on the same island earlier this year, most recently on 21 May 2022. Gulls do move about!

**Jane LeBlanc in St. Martins had a flock of 6-8 Evening Grosbeaks in her yard briefly on Tuesday. Her single American Goldfinch turned into a flock of at least a dozen. They joined a Dark-eyed Junco and White-throated Sparrow, along with the regular Blue Jays, Downy Woodpecker, Mourning Doves, Red-breasted Nuthatch and Black-capped Chickadees.

**John Inman welcomed the first duo of Pine Siskins to join the American Goldfinch on Tuesday and one female Pine Grosbeak dropped by on a scouting mission. John wonders if there may be too many Evening Grosbeaks to compete with for its liking but hoping it returns with kin.

**Jean Renton had apples out at their Canaan Forks camp to attract White-tailed Deer so was indeed surprised to find a male Red-bellied Woodpecker repeatedly enjoying the apple booty.
Red-bellied Woodpeckers seem to be falling from the sky!

**Brian Stone popped out of bed at 4:00 am on Tuesday morning all fresh and perky and ready for a full Lunar Eclipse session at Dartmouth, N.S. The sky was clear and sharp, but the wind was so intense and steady that most of Brian's photos of the eclipse in progress were less than sharp. Especially the dimmer end sequence when the Moon was in full eclipse and a nice reddish orange colour. He composed a selection from the sequence of photos into a single image that displays some of the significant stages of the eclipse beginning with the full Moon unobscured, then the entrance of the partial penumbral shadow followed by several stages of the full shadow and ending in the full eclipse. Sadly, this final, most sought after stage was the most blurry in Brian's photos due to that darn wind. The Moon set while still in full eclipse so Brian did not get to see the shadow of the Earth leaving the Moon and releasing its full, bright reflective surface.

**Heads up on a Nature Moncton field trip scheduled for this coming Saturday. At the moment, Mother Nature’s forecast suggests rain on Saturday but Sun on Sunday. This field trip may be well be weather postponed to Sunday, November 14.

Stay tuned.

Nature Moncton Field Trip - Northumberland Coast Outing: Port Elgin to Cape Jourimain

Date:   Saturday, November 12th (rain date: November 13th)
Time:   8:15 AM (or 9:00 AM) to late afternoon (or as long as folks want to stay)
Meeting Place: a) Behind Burger King at Champlain Mall (8:15 AM)
           b) Shell gas station, Port Elgin (9:00 AM)
Guides: Roger Leblanc and Louise Nichols

When you think of great birding, what comes to mind first is the migration periods of May and September. But although those are times when birds are moving in big numbers with such breathtaking phenomena as the return of warblers in spring and the passage of shorebirds in fall, did you know that statistically the best month for mega-rarities is actually November? But at any time, location, location, location is the magic word. And one of the best places to go looking around here in November is the most south-easterly part of the province along the Northumberland coast from Port Elgin to Cape Jourimain National Wildlife area. And so that is where Nature Moncton is proposing a full day outing.

What to expect and where:

At this time of year, variety will be lower than it would be in spring, but lots of species are on winter territory or still on the move, in particular water-loving birds like ducks and gulls that can be in huge numbers at specific spots. For that reason, our first stop will be the Port Elgin water treatment lagoon where high numbers of sea ducks and Bonaparte’s Gulls could be present with whatever else might have followed them there. From there we will follow the coast, stopping at many well-known spots (and some maybe not so well known) on the shore but also inland. There we will look again for water birds but also upland species. We will continue our adventure with a stop at Cape Tormentine where the village and the infrastructure of the closed down ferry terminal as well as the still active wharf have proven time and again to be attractive at that time of year to many interesting species. We will then finish our day with a stop at the Cape Jourimain National Wildlife Area where the many ponds and trails on the peninsula have also been magnets in the past for some very good birds in late fall. So all in all, we should be in for a good number of species and who knows what “rare one” might be present at some of those spots that have proven over the years to be very productive in November.

Where to meet and when:

Those in the Moncton area who wish to carpool to Port Elgin can meet Roger Leblanc at 8:15 AM behind the Burger King in the Champlain Mall parking lot. Others can meet Louise Nichols at 9:00 AM in the parking lot of the Shell gas station on Hwy 16 at the Port Elgin roundabout.

Bring a lunch. All are welcome, Nature Moncton member or not.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton