NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS
March
30, 2025
Nature
Moncton members, as well as any naturalist in New Brunswick or beyond, are
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**Georges Brun was able to capture a documentary photo of the pair of peregrine falcons in the nest box atop Assumption Place in Moncton on Saturday morning. This was the first time Georges has seen them in the box area since the new site and nest had been in place. The photo was taken at 7:04 AM just as the partial solar eclipse was about to begin.
(Editor’s note: We know the birds have been in and out of
the box and did get footage from the camera when it was temporarily operating
of a bird scratching a depression in the pea gravel nest. The operational
glitches that have surfaced are very frustrating. Currently, there is an issue
with the camera, which is suspected to be caused by unrelated work being done
on the roof. Atlantic Alarm will hopefully get it functioning on Tuesday.)
Georges also took some photographs of the partial solar eclipse that occurred at sunrise on Saturday.
Luc Richard was photographed making his first surf of the
season on the Tidal Bore.
**Brian Coyle paid a visit to the borrow pit Saturday afternoon near the TCH not far from his home to find it 75% thawed.
There may have been 50 ducks present, including the usual suspects, such as mallard ducks, ringed-necked ducks, and hooded mergansers. Brian suspects that in the next couple of weeks, the numbers and variety will swell.
In addition, Brian flushed an American woodcock. It was
so cryptic in its camouflage that Brian nearly stepped on it before it burst
into flight.
(Editor’s note: a borrow pit is an excavated area that
often ends up being a pond. In this case, the excavation was a result of the
removal of material for the construction of the nearby TCH some years ago.
Brian has found it to be a magnet for wildlife.)
**On a
late afternoon stroll by the Hampton ponds today, Richard Blacquiere happened
to be standing among some trees on Spooner Island when a brown creeper
flew in and landed at the base of a tree. He watched it work its way up the
trunk, searching for food, before it flew over to the base of another tree to
repeat its foraging work. Later, after leaving the island, Richard stopped to
photograph some gadwall on Spooner Pond. By chance, Richard had his camera
focused on one when it decided to stretch, presenting a nice display of the
patterns on its wings.
(Editor’s note:
Richard’s spread-wing photo of the gadwall is special! It beautifully shows the
black and white speculum with the black and rufous patches anterior to it,
which we don’t often get to see that clearly.)
It’s busy on
the Hampton lagoon ponds now, and it's fairly easy to see up to 10 species of
waterfowl on a short walk.
**The Cornell Lab Bird Academy has produced a very
informative poster on bird-friendly garden plants. It highlights which birds
are attracted to specific plants and provides both common and
scientific names. Most of the plants mentioned are native to New Brunswick, but
some are not or uncommon. It’s a very opportune time to take a look at this poster
with planting season ahead. Open it up at the link below
GardenPoster-2pp-Mar24-2023.pdf
**Brian Stone got up early on Saturday morning to
drive to Cap Lumiere in hopes of a low, distant eastern horizon to view and
photograph the partial eclipse of the Sun that was well under way at
sunrise. A low band of clouds blocked the first appearance of the Sun's
eclipsed ‘points’, but the rest of the eclipse was clear and was happily viewed
and photographed.
**As well as photographing the partial eclipse on
Saturday, Brian Stone got pictures of some of the 20 plus brant that are
feeding along the coast in the Cap Lumiere area. Additionally, a few of the
many black scoters are frequently found in most of the coastal waters.
Brian thanks Gary Dupuis for originally locating the brant and super birder
Robert Shortall for leading him to them on Saturday.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
GADWALL. MARCH 29, 2025. RICHARD BLACQUIERE
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