NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS
February 4, 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
**Lynn and Fred Dube have completed the first run of
Nature Moncton birdfeeders and they are ready for new homes in feeder yards. The
excellent design of these feeders protects the seed inside from the weather
with a dowel perch aimed so most birds using it will not defecate on the food.
The feeders will be available at Nelson Poirier’s home at
85 Mount Royal Blvd. for easier in-town pickup. For folks who would wish to
purchase one, send an email to nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
when you would like to pick one up, and they can be left on the doorstep to be
picked up when convenient. They will also be available at the February Nature Moncton meeting.
The cost is $35 each (40$ for non-members) and can be paid by e-transfer to naturemonctontreasurer2020@gmail.com
with no password necessary. If the transfer is inconvenient, cash or a check can be left in the mailbox to be forwarded to the treasurer.
**Recently, Judy Cairns reported having a duo of northern
flickers coming to her birdfeeder yard which normally is a bonus just to have
one. Well, hang onto your hats, folks; Judy reports as of Monday morning, she
has had three northern flickers patronizing her feeder yard!
**Brian Coyle has a northern flying squirrel that
visits his peanut butter feeder which is at his second-story window some 20'
off the ground. It doesn't seem to be bothered by the light from a flash or the
light from taking this video at all. Check out the action at the link below:
**Jane LeBlanc in St. Martins reports three golden-crowned
kinglets in her yard at once. She also had two white-breasted nuthatches,
and her hermit thrush continues to come for mountain ash berries.
**Fred Dube contributes a close-up photo of one of their yard patron brown creepers.
**Georges Brun photographed two song sparrows at the
Landing next to Chateau Moncton. He was finally able to do this
with the birds cooperating long enough to stay still for more than a
second.
The resident red-tailed hawk of the area was
being harassed by the bold crows down at Bore Park and near Halls Creek.
**John Inman comments it is quite comical watching their
one grey squirrel jumping up and down high in the air and doing tumbles.
It has done well so far this winter, avoiding the hawks and owls.
John Inman looked out and noticed the barred owl
looking for lunch by the baby barn during the day. It possibly had its eye on
rodents more so than birds as it posed cooperatively for a photograph.
Later Monday evening, Shannon Inman went out on the steps
to check on the stars, and a big commotion started with hoots, screams, and
wing flapping; she shone a light, and on the ground below the cedars was a
barred owl and a couple feet higher in a branch was another barred owl.
It’s that time of year when our larger resident owls are
establishing/reconfirming nesting territories, and we can expect to hear
nocturnal vocalizations between pairs and competitors.
**On Monday, Barb Curlew and Rick Elliott observed a killdeer
on Long Marsh when the high tide was receding in the late afternoon. They
believe this may be the same bird they have been seeing intermittently
since mid-December 2024.
**Fred and Sue Richards noticed the paw print of a rabbit they saw running across the driveway of the hotel in Calgary they are in at the moment. The first thing they saw was a large coyote walking towards the fence on the other side; then Susan saw the rabbit running on this side of the fence. She thinks it might have seen a different ending if there was no fence separating the parking lot from the space called Nose Creek Parkway, with trails running through it. Funnily, Susan had told Fred just minutes before, "There is wildlife of some kind in that space. Maybe we will see a hawk or an owl or mouse tracks if we walk there."
(Editor’s note: it is my understanding that Alberta hosts
the snowshoe hare and the white-tailed jackrabbit, which are true hares, but
also the mountain cottontail, which is a true rabbit.)
**Brian Stone was watching out his back window Sunday
afternoon, trying to see if the small birds flitting about in the big maple
tree were chickadees or not (they were). While he was looking, a red
squirrel ran into the tree from nearby trees scampered straight down the
trunk, and disappeared into the snow at the base of the tree. Brian watched for
a while to see if the squirrel would reappear but then noticed, out of the
corner of his eye, a small dark shape popped up into a small hole in the snow
on the other side of the yard. It seems the squirrel took the subway over to
the small hole and just came up for air for a few minutes. Brian wonders how
extensive the tunnel system might be under the snow, but so far, just one
pop-up hole is visible.
(Editor’s note: a blanket of snow can be a warm insulator
from the harsh cold we have been experiencing by allowing for the creation of under snow tunnels
where feels-like temperatures we experience are much warmer.)
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
