Nature Moncton Nature News: April 22 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

April 22, 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 both the editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com and the proofreader nicholsl@eastlink.ca if any errors are noted in wording or photo labelling.

For more information on Nature Moncton, check the website at www.naturemoncton.com .

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

** Frank Branch spotted four Greater Yellowlegs Sunday afternoon at Hay Island in Neguac, a first for this year for him.

(Editor’s note: Greater Yellowlegs do not nest in New Brunswick but a portion of them do use the Atlantic flyway to reach their more northern breeding grounds. We sometimes see them making brief stopovers as Frank did on Sunday.)

** Cathy and Isabelle Simon helped to count migrating seabirds at the Point Lepreau Bird Observatory on Saturday, April 20, 2024. They counted 18 species and over 1500 individuals. The highlight of the morning was watching a small flock of Harlequin Ducks navigating the large waves directly in front of the observatory.

**Richard Blacquiere leaves a mini report from Hampton. On Sunday morning he had his first Savannah Sparrow of the year, and he got a pleasant photograph of a brightly plumaged male Yellow-rumped Warbler.

**Georges Brun photographed a Harbour Porpoise that was perhaps 75 feet from his location down at the Landing and must have been dining on fish at the mouth of Halls Creek in the Petitcodiac River. It was moving in an area of approximately 100 m from him. It startled him while he was talking to some die-hard Tidal Bore watchers.

(Editor’s note: Georges's photo of a Harbour Porpoise is the most any of us will probably ever see of this mammal as it quickly surfaces for a breath of air and shows the sickle-shaped dorsal fin. It is aquatic never coming on land.)

Georges also photographed an adult Bald Eagle monitoring the river.

**Georges Brun shares a screenshot of the Peregrine Falcons when the male was handing off his duties to his mate early in the morning. The family is looking to be in fine shape.

**Brian Stone made his first trip into the wooded area behind Crandall University on Gorge Rd. on Sunday afternoon. The first photo subject to appear was a vocal Eastern Phoebe followed by a stealthy American Robin. A short way along one of the dirt bike trails, in a grove of small pine trees, Brian found another colony of ground-dwelling Unequal Cellophane Bees swarming along the ground, landing in the pine trees, and occasionally mating.

(Editor's note: a consistent feature of the Eastern Phoebe that we don't get to see in still photos is the constantly bobbing tail.)

A few other photo subjects were a small, tennis ball-sized nest, a Tri-coloured Bumblebee, a Water Strider on the larger vernal pond/pool, and a small nest of tiny ants that were discovered under a sheltering sheet of plastic.

(Editor's note: the tennis ball-sized nest in Brian's photo is the style constructed by the Yellow Warbler. Alder tongue gall (arrowed) appears beside the nest. This fungal plant pathogen (Taphrina ulni) is a common occurrence of female Alder catkins.)

**Sunday was a beautiful day to take action for nature! Twenty hard-working Nature Moncton members and friends picked up approximately 20 bags worth of garbage on 1.5 km of the Moncton Riverfront trail. Now the local wildlife and trail users will benefit from a cleaner environment and all that garbage will not end up in our waterways. Thank you to everyone who helped out!

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nature Moncton