NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS
January 26, 2025
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**Deana and Peter Gadd traveled up the north coast from Miramichi to Tracadie on Saturday and took a look at a few birding spots along the way.
Along Oak Point Road only one bird was spotted -- a Merlin,
checking out a front lawn feeder, recently deserted by other birds no doubt.
This was a good sighting in that it was an unexpected bird and a new addition
to the Northumberland County Winter Bird List which to date numbers 75 entries.
Further up the coast at Pointe-a-Bouleau, Tracadie, they
took a look at the man-made channel that gives small boats access to Tracadie
Bay. This channel is tidal, and the fast-running water prevents it from
freezing. Every winter, it hosts quite large numbers of visiting Barrow’s
Goldeneye. There were at least 120 of these birds Saturday, possibly more.
The female Barrow’s Goldeneye were really showing bright carrot-coloured beaks of breeding plumage.
Only two Common Goldeneye were spotted, in addition to a few Red-breasted Mergansers
and a few gulls, including one 1st-winter Iceland Gull.
On the return to Miramichi Peter and Deana stopped at a
friend’s home in New Jersey and were happy to catch up with a Field Sparrow
and a Common Grackle that have been sharing what has been on offer at
feeders with Mourning Doves, Black-capped Chickadees, Hairy and Downy
Woodpeckers.
**On Saturday, Brian and Annette Stone walked some of the
trails in Irishtown Park and saw a few Black-capped Chickadees, two Red-breasted
Nuthatches, and a couple of Blue Jays at a feeder station that had recently
been put up alongside the trail. This small number of birds was still more than
they usually see in the park, as birds seem to be quite scarce there lately.
After their walk, they drove to Cocagne where they saw a flock of Snow Buntings
picking grit or seeds from the side of the road but were unable to get any photos
of them due to traffic.
On the short Lover’s Lane Road, they stopped at the
Mountain Ash trees that are plentiful at one end of the road and photographed
some of the 100-plus American Robins that were stuffing themselves with
the tree's berries in a frantic banquet scene.
Nelson Poirier
