NATURE
MONCTON NATURE NEWS
April 19, 2025
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To
view the live feed of the Peregrine Falcon nest cam on the summit of Assumption
Place in Moncton, go to:
**Jane LeBlanc had a visit from a female yellow-bellied
sapsucker on Friday. She usually gets one (sometimes a pair) about this
time of year.
**John Inman reports that his surprisingly large group of brown-headed cowbirds increased to 24, very appropriately 12 of each gender.
They seem to have come in with a new group of common grackles. The males are
strutting with their tails up as part of their courting display.
Shannon Inman got a
quick photo of a palm warbler through the woods.
(Editor’s note: The yellow-rumped warbler and the palm warbler
are normally among the first warblers to join us in the spring. Shannon was
able to photograph both of these species in the last day.)
**On Friday morning, Brian Stone joined Cathy Simon on a
walk around Highland Park in Salisbury and a shorter jaunt around Wilson (Bell)
marsh a little later in the day. They saw an increase in bird life from the
last time Brian was there a week ago, and the biggest change was the number of tree
swallows catching insects over the water of the ponds. They were flying
around so quickly that photography was quite difficult and might require an
hour or more of concentration to get any decent flight photos. A small group of
common mergansers flew overhead and landed further up in the river, but
were too fast to be photographed.
At the far west end of Wilson Marsh, the similarly large
group of tree swallows present there was more cooperative and perched close to
the trail to allow photography to happen much more easily. A couple of pairs of
American wigeons and blue-winged teals were spotted, and the usual song
sparrows, muskrats, and bald eagles (adults and immatures)
made appearances, along with a small group of ring-necked ducks and two
or three cedar waxwings.
Nelson Poirier.
Nature Moncton
