Nature Moncton Nature News: March 25 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

March 25, 2024

Nature Moncton members as well as any naturalist in New Brunswick or beyond are invited to share their photos and descriptions of recent nature sightings to build a fresh (almost) daily edition of Nature News

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.

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Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

The live feed to the Peregrine Falcon nest box camera can be accessed at https://www.zoodemagnetichillzoo.ca/nest-cam

**The Groundhog is one of our true hibernators going underground in the fall, reducing metabolism, and not eating anything until they emerge in the spring.

Norbert Dupuis captured a photo of a recently emerged Groundhog looking in excellent condition after a six-month fast.

**Gordon Rattray reports that he had a new visitor in his yard for the year, a White-breasted Nuthatch. Gordon also had two White-tailed Deer walk through outside the fenced area, a doe and a yearling.

**On Sunday morning, as Yves Poussart was watching an American Crow picking small branches from the Linden tree in the garden, 3 Rock Pigeons arrived to pick some seeds at the feeder on the patio. Yves noticed that one of them was a suspected Leucistic Rock Pigeon and he was able to get some photos of this visitor which had never been seen before. For sure, it will be easy to recognize if it comes back for another visit.

(Editor’s note: Rock Pigeons are so variable with domestic breeding traits reintroduced into wild birds. Even within domestic breeding, leucism could occur).

**Brian Stone took his camera out for a drive on Sunday and sends some photos from the coast between Shediac and Petit Cap. At Cap Brule there were many Scaups in the 3 lagoons, and further along were Ring-necked Ducks at Cap-Pele lagoon and Black Scoters at Petit Cap wharf. Also seen were Common Eiders and a couple of close Common Goldeneye Ducks.

(Editor’s note: this coastal area has surely become full of life compared to the last month.

The Black Scoters are a treat to see. The advanced guard of their numbers moving through our area are male at the moment with females close behind. One female showing in Brian’s photos is red-arrowed to show their very different plumage.)

As the Sun was setting it became covered with some high-altitude ice crystals that started to show some interesting solar ice halo segments. The ice crystal clouds were a bit too thick to show the halos properly but a barely visible 22° solar halo and slightly brighter sun dog were joined with the beginning of a parhelic circle that can stretch right around the whole sky under the right conditions. Back at home Brian stepped out after dark and photographed another ice halo but this time around the March full Moon.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton