NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS
January 19, 2025
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
and proofreader Louise Nichols at 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
**The Nature Moncton January Meeting will take place
Tuesday night, January 21. The details are at the end of this edition but this
presentation on tracks, scat, and skulls is one that will give much more information to folks present at the
Mapleton Lodge (rather than virtually) as a portion of
it will be hands-on.
The first half hour will be easily shared virtually, but the hands-on portion may be harder for the virtual audience to actively
participate in. We encourage people, if possible, to be present at the lodge.
**Barb Curlew and Rick Elliott at Waterside are happy to
be hosting a Fox Sparrow these past two days. These sparrows don't
usually stay long so they keep watching for one to turn up every winter. The Ruffed
Grouse continues to show up in their yard.
**Shannon Inman came across a Coyote to get a
photograph of it on the move and was able to get photos of some of its tracks
in the light snow. The tracks nicely show the pointed shape, four toe pads, and
claw marks. The stride (the distance between the pawprints) would normally be in the
18-21 in. range.
Shannon also got a photo of pawprints that match the
shape and size of a River Otter. If the prints are indeed those of a
River Otter, they would be expected to appear near water, and other clues could
be evident by following the trail of tracks to confirm or consider another
possibility.
Shannon also photographed a bird’s nest which was very
much intact and is suspected to be that of an American Robin due to the
apparent mud cup lining and size. The well-built nest of the American Robin is
sometimes used for a second season.
**Jane LeBlanc had a big flock of Evening Grosbeaks
arrive in her yard on Saturday. Along with all the regulars, she also had a Canada
Jay stop by to enjoy the suet.
**Aldo Dorio photographed a group of Rock Pigeons with a very extreme plumage variant among them. Not
sure whether this could be called leucistic or an escapee from someone raising
pigeons and breeding for certain plumage traits.
**The photos of Brian and Annette Stone showing the
height of the invasive Phragmites reed grass at the Riverview marsh
vanished off into cyberspace on yesterday’s edition, so they are added today.
**Nature Moncton January Meeting
January 21, 2025, 7:00 PM
Mapleton Rotary Lodge
Presenter: Caitlyn Robert
Now that January has arrived, the onset of snow will give
us great opportunity to check out what wildlife signs are left behind in the
form of those telltale tracks and scat that cause us to speculate on who’s been
there and whodunit.
Caitlyn Robert, Program Coordinator for Nature NB, has many
tips to share which will help us learn more about how to read these cryptic
wildlife clues. In addition, Caitlyn is
skilled at skull identification and will bring lots of examples to illustrate
what ID features to look for when we come across skulls in the wild.
Originally from Quebec, Caitlyn has always been
fascinated by wildlife. Having studied Environmental Biology at McGill, she has
worked as a butterfly garden guide in Costa Rica and Ontario, as a swallow
bander and shorebird mist netter for the Canadian Wildlife Service in NB, and
as a wild bird rehabber and raptor educator at the Vermont Institute of Natural
Science. Eager to return to Canada and
eyeing living in New Brunswick since her summer with the CWS, she jumped on the
chance to work with Nature NB where she can use her expertise and passion for
the environment to get folks of all ages outside and excited about nature!
Caitlyn will be giving this presentation live, but anyone
anywhere is invited to join in via Zoom at the link below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81738262894?pwd=iXZCgKbhMjep0OahoVjnzZ571pvqmo.1
All are welcome, Nature Moncton member or not.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
