Nature Moncton Nature News: April 25 2924

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

April 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

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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

**Louise Nichols, Elaine Gallant, and Wendy Sullivan went birding on Wednesday around the Shediac area. They stopped at Pointe-du-Chene wharf where they could see (and hear) some Black Scoters far out. Also seen were Surf Scoters, Common Eider, Double-crested Cormorant, and Long-tailed Duck. A few of the Long-tailed Ducks came fairly close to shore and Louise was able to get some photos of the differing plumages of these ducks. The males are all labelled "spring plumage," but they are at different stages of transition from winter to spring.

From there, they went to the Big Lobster area, viewing the water from Riverside Drive. They were surprised when suddenly, four Harlequin Ducks popped up not far from them -- two males and two females. They swam far off, then flew back close enabling some close-up photos. Also on the water were four 1st-winter male Goldeneyes.

**John Inman got a nice photo of a top and frontal view of a Palm Warbler to contrast with the underside photo Brian Stone got for yesterday’s edition which is attached for comparison.

John also photographed a visiting Savannah Sparrow and comments he has had 2 Northern Flickers enjoying his suet feeder.

John has also noted since last Friday a lot of fish jumping in the Shepody River and the cormorants feeding heavily, and he's wondering if the run of Gaspereau/smelt (?) has begun. Chipping Sparrows are moving through and bees are enjoying the Daffodils.

**Jane LeBlanc was out in her yard birding, and a group of 5 Turkey Vultures flew overhead. This is the third or fourth time she has seen them and she finally got a photo looking straight up at the underside.

**Lisa Morris came across lichen groups that appeared to be Lung lichen (Lobaria pulmonaria) but lacking the green colour we are accustomed to. This led to a consult with Kendra Driscoll at the New Brunswick Museum. Kendra responded:

“I agree that this is Lobaria pulmonaria. It is browner than average but I am guessing that aspect of that particular tree gets a lot of sun exposure. Lichens produce more or less UV protective pigment, depending on their level of sun exposure. This Lobaria pulmonaria essentially has a tan!”

**The spring weather has been topsy-turvy, to say the least!

Verica LeBlanc comments that Monday, April 22 was a very windy and cool day in Nelson, Miramichi. They even had a few snow flurries early in the morning. The Miramichi River was very choppy, and you could even see the sand bars. There was driftwood that appeared in the image of a seal, in this case observing the wave action. The surf coming in has its beauty as it crashes to the shore but taking photos was at times difficult as the wind was very powerful. Verica comments that it reminds one of a tropical island scenery; all that is missing is a Palm tree in place of the evergreen.

**Brian Stone was out on Wednesday dutifully searching for birds and other nature to photograph (pictures to come later) when he received notice of a Glossy Ibis present on the Dieppe Marsh trail reported by Paul Langelaan. He decided that he had a few more birding minutes in him so he headed over to the spot in hopes of getting some photos for the blog. When he arrived it turned out there were 2 Ibis seen by the birding group present and as he began watching them a 3rd one was spotted and excitement was tripled.

Before long a 4th ibis joined the group and after a few hundred photos were taken and Brian decided to head for home and relieve the pressure on his feet, ibis number 5 magically appeared. Quite an unexpected event and Brian was glad he had decided to add it to the end of his birding day.

In between taking photos of the ibis, Brian added some images of Tree Swallows perching on their nest boxes and managed to get a photo of some of a small group of Greater Yellowlegs that flew overhead while he was there.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

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