NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS
February 9, 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 NB Botany Club has arranged a field trip next Saturday,
February 15, in Fredericton on trees and buds in winter with the expert guidance of Maritime College of
Forest Technology instructor Doug Hiltz. The write-up
is at the end of this edition. This expedition is expected to allow room for
more participants. If interested, make certain to register as suggested in the write-up.
**Jamie Burris had four American robins come in and
feast on highbush cranberry to get an interesting photo of one diving with a
berry.
A sharp-shinned
hawk continues to wreak havoc with the other birds. Jamie got some nice
flight photos as it was flying along the hydro lines.
**Louise Richard had a raptor make a successful foraging
visit to her west-end Moncton yard on Saturday. The fine breast striping not
going the full way down the breast/chest and a few other clues suggested it to be
a cooper’s hawk.
**John Inman comments they watched a stray cat drag away
the resident grey squirrel and are disappointed in pet owners who can
not look after cats and take them out to the country and drop them off. The
cats suffer, and the birds and wildlife suffer. He has been catching them and
finding homes for them in the past, but if pet owners can not look after them,
they should not be allowed to have one.
**Nelson Poirier and Brian Stone went for a Saturday
outing (winter adventure) and spent the day searching for interesting nature to
view and photograph. A stop at Yolande Leblanc's yard in Memramcook yielded
some brown creeper photos.
(Editor’s note: the brown creepers were attracted to an
interesting feeder style built by Eudor LeBlanc. It consists of a piece of 4X4
lumber approximately a foot long with holes of 1-inch diameter and 1/2 inch
deep loaded with peanut butter. It was a very good feeder idea, and the brown creepers seem to think so as well.)
Alongside a road near Sackville, a small group of snow
buntings was foraging. Also, along a roadside, an interesting-coloured ring-necked
pheasant was comically strutting and running in an attempt to avoid being
photographed.
At Johnson's Mills, they found that the berry crop was
pretty much exhausted, and the large flock of American robins were snacking on
the leftover full-size apples. In Dorchester another group of robins were
feasting on some small berries in a bush, or sapling, near the side of the
road.
(Editor’s note: the berries were very freeze-dried and unpalatable looking, to make identity uncertain, but the robins didn’t think so.)
A surprisingly strong gentleman was photographed carrying a large bale of hay; no forklift was needed. Amazing!
A visit to the Tantramar Marsh turned out to be a
challenging winter adventure with few birds being encountered and occasional
snow-packed drifting snow causing 4-wheel drive trucks to decide the roads were impassable at this time!
**New Brunswick Botany Club Winter Event
Saturday, February 15, 10
AM-3 PM
Leader: Doug Hiltz
Location: Maritime College of Forest Technology and UNB
woodlot
Subject: Trees and Buds in Winter
Doug Hiltz, an instructor at the Maritime College of
Forest Technology for the past 6 years, has kindly agreed to lead a
presentation indoors and outdoors to get an appreciation of trees in winter and
those bud packets that contain all the information to come to life in the
spring.
Doug teaches Botany, Dendrology, Entomology, and Pathology
with a host of qualifications to teach others these disciplines.
Participants can park in the roundabout lot in front of
the forestry complex building as it is on a Saturday. The physical address for
GPS is 1350 Regent St., Fredericton. E3C 2G8
Participants will
go inside to the lobby, then to one of the classrooms for a short
intro/briefing and Doug will go over the basics of twig anatomy and winter tree
identification. We would then proceed to the Maritime Forestry Complex
Arboretum so Doug could demonstrate some of the anatomical features he would
have mentioned, and so we could look at some species that we are not likely to
see in the woods. We can then take a warm-up/washroom/lunch break in the
college and head to the UNB woodlot to talk about common tree and shrub species
encountered in most areas of New Brunswick
As it is winter in New Brunswick, weather can always be a
potential problem. If that problem occurs, members will be advised the evening
before of an alternate date.
Doug has advised that the number attending is not a
problem as he is used to classes of 50 participants; however, registration, if
you are considering attendance, is suggested before February 8 to nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com so it can be opened up to naturalist groups if
appropriate.
All appreciation to Doug Hiltz and the Maritime College
of Forest Technology for opening their doors to the group on a Saturday.
For any participants having problems finding the group or
arriving late, a contact number is 506-866-2752.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
