NATURE
MONCTON NATURE NEWS
May 11, 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 the 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 Nichols nicholsl@eastlink.ca
To
view the live feed of the Peregrine Falcon nest cam on the summit of Assumption
Place in Moncton, go to:
**The great horned owl does not build its own nest, usually using the old stick nests of other birds like ravens or crows that would normally not be used by that species a second time. On occasion, they will take over the nest of an osprey as the owls nest often a month before the osprey arrives back. When the osprey returns to occupy their last year's nest to find a great horned owl has taken over, there is little doubt as to who will prevail, as the owl will sit tight on its stolen nest despite complaints from a returning osprey pair.
Brigitte Greene got a photograph of that
scenario on April 12. Brigitte took the photo from a long distance and thought
it was an upright twig in the nest until she got home to open up the photo on
her screen to get the surprise that the large twig was actually a great
horned owl.
The location of this nest is purposely not being
passed on to avoid any harassment of the owl, but the photo is being published
to point out the habit of the great horned owl to seek out a stick nest that has
been built by another species.
**Thanks to the sharp eye of Caroline
Arsenault, we are able to make a correction to the labelling of an oriole
published on May 9, which will be a learning experience for many of us.
We labelled a photo as an immature male Baltimore oriole.
Caroline noted the bill is a bit curved, yellow belly/flanks vs orange, and
its starting to show some chestnut colouring on the breast to suggest it is
actually an immature male orchard oriole.
Gilles Belliveau agreed and points out a few more
features that differentiate the immature males of these two species.
The bill colouration is also more consistent with male orchard
oriole as they typically have a primarily black bill with just the base of the
lower mandible being that blueish-gray colour (as seen in the photo).
Baltimore oriole should have a mostly pale lower mandible
(sometimes a bit of black along the bottom edge), and the upper mandible is
typically black on top with pale coloration along the bottom edge.
To highlight these features, Shannon Inman’s photo is
republished today, as well as one of a Baltimore oriole.
**Bernice Johnstone made a foray in the woods along the Little Southwest Miramichi River to find and photograph some of the spring ephemeral plants popping up with beautiful blooms. Dutchman’s britches were showing their pantaloon-like flowers, spring beauty was showing how it got its name, and wood anenome aka windflower was showing its white blooms with a pink blush.
Calypso orchid is on the watch list for Bernice (and for the
editor).
Both Bernice and a woodcock were equally startled when she almost stepped on its cryptic body over its ground nest, which Bernice snapped a photo of and departed the area promptly.
Another startling moment was when a pair of common
merganser tucked into a small bogan suddenly
lifted off.
**John Inman had four feral turkeys
arrive at his Harvey yard on Saturday as his 210th yard bird! It should be
interesting to see what the other critters think and how they react.
Nelson Poirier.
Nature Moncton
