NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS
Feb 2, 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
**On Wednesday,
Paul and Rhonda Langelaan witnessed a special moment in nature when they came across
a Peregrine Falcon at Mapleton Park. It was very close to the trail consuming
its prey (duck) as they walked by. They were able to take several great
photographs as the falcon essentially ignored their presence as it was quite
occupied with its mission.
On Tuesday,
Rhonda and Paul were able to get a nice photo of a Lapland Longspur at the
Irving Nature Park in Saint John. A zoom in of that photo shows nice details.
They also saw Horned Larks at that site as well on Tuesday. There were no Snow
Buntings present with these birds. They have seen Snow Buntings on the Scott Road
this year in a cornfield and on the Constantine Road in this area. They also had
one at their feeder a few times this year. Sightings seem less than other years
which seems to be the case with many of our Northern winter visitors. However,
there does seem to be lots of American Tree Sparrows.
Two special
days for Rhonda and Paul!
**As Brian Coyle went to start his vehicle Wednesday morning, he noticed some very fresh tracks left by something going through his yard during the night. Upon investigation, he noticed that these were Coyote tracks of an exceptionally large size. They measured approximately 2 1/2 in. long and 3 1/4 in. long, with a gait (stride) of 22 in.
**Aldo Dorio
sends a photo of the ‘Purple Elephant’ snow sculpture that has been
constructed near the Neguac High School and has created a great deal of
attention. (Editor’s note: I don’t have the name of the sculptor, but this
gentleman creates a special snow sculpture each year which usually takes about
a week to complete).
**Bob Blake
in Second North River maintains daily weather statistics from his home
including morning low temperatures, daily high temperatures, and monthly
precipitation. He prepares a table to compare January 2022 to January 2023. Bob’s
statistics shows that January of 2022 was noticeably cooler overall and the
precipitation more predominantly snow over rain in 2022 while January of 2023
precipitation had significantly more rain.
With the cold
start February of 2023, it will be interesting to note Bob’s comparative statistics
by March 1. Bob’s chart as he forwards it is below:
|
2022 |
2023 |
||
|
morning temperatures |
daily highs and rainfall |
morning temperatures |
daily highs and rainfall |
|
-28-1 day -26-1 -23-1 -20-2 -19-1 -17-2 -16-1 -15-2 -14-2 -13-1 -11-2 -10-1 -8-1 -7-3 -6-1 -4-1 -3-2 -2-1 0-1 +3-1 +4-1 +6-1 |
+8-1 +6-2 +5-2 +4-3 0-2 28 mms. rain 144 cms. snow |
-15-1 -13-2 -10-1 -8-2 -7-1 -6-2 -5-1 -4-3 -3-5 -2-3 0-2 +1-4 +2-2 +4-1 +7-1 |
+9-1 +8-1 +7-1 +4-4 +3-1 +2-1 +1-7 0-2 80 mms.rain 73 cms. sno |
Nelson Poirier
Nature
Moncton
.%20JAN%2031,%202023.%20PAUL%20LANGELAAN.jpg)
