NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS
February 12, 2025
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**American robins appear to dominate today’s
report. These would not be expected to be early migrants, but birds that have
overwintered in New Brunswick that had been concentrated in areas of
significant mountain ash crops. Those crops have been foraged clean, and now the birds
are moving into urban areas still abundant with second choice crabapples of the
cultivar flowering crab.
**Georges Brun photographed 7 or 8 American robins
and one cedar waxwing. Georges saw one robin flying from the Sports Dome
on Russ Howard towards their meal, the small apples along the walking
trail.
Back at home, Georges got lucky and photographed two American
goldfinches feeding on birch catkins.
Concerning red squirrels chasing birds, Georges has, on numerous occasions, seen squirrels who are living nearby actually chase the birds -- sometimes for a meal and other times to scare away the larger birds if they have to protect their young and territory. A few years past, a sharp-shinned hawk eliminated a young blue jay, had a quick lunch, and left hurriedly abandoning the prey on the ground. A red squirrel came by to eat a surprise meal. Sometimes the common grackles that return in late May/early June will try to capture the red squirrels, but it's difficult to fly between branches and trees, so no luck for either creature.
The peregrine falcons were back at their post on
the big A on Tuesday after a few days.
(Editor’s note: with luck, they are waiting for their new
summer cottage to be in place, which hopefully is just days away.)
**John Inman sends a photo of his white-tailed deer
troupe as they scrounge daily for a meal. The mother spotted the barred owl
low in the cedars, walked over, and put her nose within three feet of the owl with
no issues, and they went about their day. The owl appeared to take prey behind
the feeder.
(Editor's note: the deer look very well fed!)
**Brian Stone visited the Sports Dome on Russ Howard Dr.
in Moncton on Tuesday afternoon to view the American robins feeding on
flowering crab apples that had been reported by Lisa Morris on yesterday's
edition of the Nature News. The robins were still present and still feasting on
the small apples, and Brian was able to spot at least three cedar waxwings in
amongst the robin population.
(Editor’s note: Nelson Poirier also visited the same area
on Tuesday afternoon. This is certainly an area to watch for other species that
may show up with the robins. There are approximately a dozen mature flowering
crab trees at that site that are heavily loaded with fruit. There could be
upwards of 100 birds devouring the booty. Nelson attaches a photo showing the
ground/snowpack under the trees that is covered with pulp from the apples that
the birds are also enjoying, at least until a snow cover arrives.)
**David Lilly had an adult northern shrike visit
his Oromocto backyard on Tuesday morning. The bird landed in a big maple tree
15 feet off the ground, stayed for a couple of minutes and flew on, not having
time for a photo op.
This is the second northern shrike in David’s backyard
over the last couple of years. The first shrike was immature, showing the brownish
colour of the immature bird.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
