NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS
Feb 11, 2023
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
Proofreading
courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca
**Nature Moncton Bird Feeder Tour
tomorrow, Saturday.
Details are repeated below in today’s
edition.
**Last Sunday, Brian Coyle decided to circumnavigate the
Irishtown Reservoir on the ice with snowshoes, particularly looking for River Otter
sign. He was not disappointed!
In a boggy area at the northern perimeter of
the reservoir, he found lots of slides and tracks of these remarkably resilient
creatures. The tracks were likely not more than a day old, but it had snowed
lightly the night before, which made for less than ideal sign. He is determined
to set up a trail camera in the area in hopes of capturing some of their antics
this winter.
(Editor’s note: looking forward to that as we just
don’t seem to see this interesting mammal very often).
**Common Redpolls have been at a premium
this year at feeders. Daryl Doucette had one lone brightly coloured Common
Redpoll, he assumed to be a male, visit his feeders on Friday.
**Bill McBeath, from Riverview has been going into Mill Creek Park in Riverview recently. He watched a Barred Owl for
almost 20 minutes; it was chewing on food, but he was not sure what the food was.
**Jamie Burris noticed a male House Finch Friday
noting the back had a very yellowish to pale orange coloration. The ‘all about
birds’ website had this to say.
“Male House Finches are generally red, but under certain circumstances, they
may be orange or yellow instead. Different subspecies may show color
variations, but differences in colour are also attributed to diet. When a bird
is molting, its diet will determine the colours of its new feathers. If a diet
lacks certain pigments, then a House Finch may end up orange or yellow instead
of its usual red.”
**Heads up on the ever-popular Nature Moncton Birdfeeder Tour on for today, Saturday, February 11. Mother Nature calling for snow and cool weather to hopefully make birdfeeder yards busy today. All details are below:
Nature Moncton’s Annual Feeder Tour
February 11th, 2023
General schedule:
1.
8:30
am: Meet at the Moncton Coliseum parking lot to organize car-pooling.
2.
8:45
am: Leave promptly for Jean Renton's on 1460 Gorge Rd., Stilesville. Jean has
once again offered to host participants for a delicious breakfast with able
culinary help from Fred Richards. Arrive hungry as the menu consists of baked
beans, pancakes, maple syrup, and sausage. While feasting on the good food,
everyone can view the many birds visiting the Renton’s feeder yard.
3.
After
the visit at the Renton’s, the group will travel to Riverview to visit the feeders
of Jamie and Karen Burris at 21 Henderson Ave.
Take the new bridge across.
Continue on Findlay Blvd and turn right onto White Pine Rd, then left
onto Henderson. Directions on how to
approach the yard from the back (so as not to disturb the birds) will be given
on-site.
4.
The next stop will be Sue and Steve
Berube’s at 212 Summit Drive, Riverview.
Travel back up to Coverdale Rd.
Turn right and continue past the Gunningsville Bridge. Turn right onto Court St., then left onto Old
Coach Rd, right onto Diligent Drive, right onto Peck Drive, then left onto
Summit Dr.
5.
Next the group will travel back to
Moncton to the home of Yves Poussart at 111 Weyburn Rd. Take the Gunningsville Bridge across. Continue up Vaughan Harvey past Mountain Rd.
where it changes to Macbeath Ave. Turn
right on Connaught Ave. Follow Connaught
until after it changes to Morton, then turn left on McLaughlin Rd. Turn right on Hennessey Rd. Follow it almost to Elmwood. Turn right on Monaghan Dr. and then turn left
on Weyburn Rd.
6.
The final stop will be at Nelson
Poirier’s home at 85 Mount Royal Blvd for French Onion soup and end-of-the-day
socializing while watching Nelson’s feeders.
Take either Elmwood Dr. or McLaughlin Rd. back to Morton. Turn right on Morton and follow back to
Macbeath Ave. Turn left and travel past
Mountain Rd. continuing on Vaughan Harvey until St. George Blvd. Turn right on
St. George and then left on Mount Royal Blvd.
Contact Number (if anyone gets lost or wishes
to join later in the day): Nelson Poirier
– (506) 866-2752.
Nelson Poirier
Nature
Moncton
