Nature Moncton Nature News

Saturday, 18 April 2026

April 18 2026

Nature Moncton Nature News

Clicking on the photos enlarges them for closer observation.

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.

If you would like to share observations/photos with Nature News, contact the editor, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Please advise the editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com, as well as proofreader nicholsl@eastlink.ca, if any errors are noted in wording or photo labelling.

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

**The camera on the peregrine falcon nest box on the summit of Assumption Place is now live. When checking the link to watch the activity, scroll down to the first large image, which shows what is happening in real time.

Everything seems quite quiet at the nest box again this morning, with incubation happening. It could be expected that the male will be arriving to provide food offerings while the female will be doing most of the incubation. Any screenshots would be welcome of any activity seen to share with those that might not be watching at the moment of delivery.

**https://www.zoodemagnetichillzoo.ca/nest-cam

**Rosemonde Duguay observed her first palm warbler for the year in Allardville on Thursday to get a nice photo.

**Jane LeBlanc found a garter snake sunning itself on her driveway on Friday.

While driving a back road near St. Martins, Jane found a pair of ring-necked ducks in a pond that was high from recent rainfall.

Later, Jane was sitting by her pond trying to get a photo of one of the wood frogs, when she looked up and saw a yellow-rumped warbler... the first warbler she has seen this year.

**John Inman photographed a bright pine warbler on the suet on Friday.

The local bald eagle and raven got into a dispute in his backyard, and a pair of ring-necked ducks were enjoying some nearby open water.

A water strider was enjoying the warmth of a dirty pond.

**On Friday evening, Nelson Poirier and Brian Stone went on a salamander hunt. At the site they went to, they found at least a dozen red-backed salamanders. At a marshy pond, they heard a very loud spring chorus of spring peeper frogs with some wood frogs.

A few mosquitoes were hovering around, but they didn't seem to be very ‘bitey’ yet.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/0izpb73c0ypmyd58i87tb/SPRING-PEEPER-SOUNDS.-APRIL-17-2026.mp4?rlkey=go641l7xjmpxfybl34z6hmtx8&st=4rg17vpr&dl=0

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

PALM WARBLER. APRIL 16, 2026. ROSEMONDE DUGUAY

PINE WARBLER. APRIL 17, 2026. JOHN INMAN

YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER. APRIL 17, 2026. JANE LEBLANC

RING-NECKED DUCK (MALE). APRIL 17, 2026. JANE LEBLANC

RING-NECKED DUCK (FEMALE). APRIL 17, 2026. JANE LEBLANC

RING-NECKED DUCK (PAIR). APRIL 17, 2026. JOHN INMAN

BALD EAGLE IN DISPUTE WITH RAVEN. APRIL 17, 2026. JOHN INMAN

BALD EAGLE EYEING LOCAL RAVEN. APRIL 17, 2026. JOHN INMAN

RED-BACKED SALAMANDERS. APRIL 17, 2026. BRIAN STONE

RED-BACKED SALAMANDER. APRIL 17, 2026. BRIAN STONE

RED-BACKED SALAMANDERS. APRIL 17, 2026. BRIAN STONE

WOOD FROG. APRIL 17, 2026. JANE LEBLANC

WATER STRIDER. APRIL 17, 2026. JOHN INMAN

Friday, 17 April 2026

April 17 2026

Nature Moncton Nature News

Clicking on the photos enlarges them for closer observation.

If you would like to share observations/photos with Nature News, contact the editor, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Please advise the editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com, as well as proofreader nicholsl@eastlink.ca, if any errors are noted in wording or photo labelling.

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

Everything seems quite quiet in the nest box this morning, with incubation happening.

https://www.zoodemagnetichillzoo.ca/nest-cam

**David Rogers photographed an adult male harlequin duck on Thursday off Harrisville Road at the Industrial Park in Moncton in a flooded ditch across from Patterson Equipment.

(Editor’s note: This is an unexpected spot to find a harlequin duck. Possibly it was a resting spot on migration.)

**A birding event is taking place tomorrow, Saturday, April 18, in Baie Verte with all details on the poster below:

**David Lilly got some portrait-style photos of an eastern phoebe at the Gateway Wetlands in Oromocto on Tuesday.

**Brian and Annette Stone walked through the St-Anselme Rotary Park on Thursday afternoon, and Brian photographed a male and female American wigeon keeping some mallard ducks company in one of the large ponds. They heard a few birds, such as purple finches and northern flickers, but the highlight of the day was when they heard a pair of woodpeckers drumming to each other, and they went searching to find them. When they got close, they realized that one of the two yellow-bellied sapsucker woodpeckers was drumming on a sheet of metal in response to the other's "message", and when they located them, it was a surprise to find that one of the males was drumming on a trail sign right beside the trail and was not concerned with walkers strolling past. This little woodpecker had done some obvious damage to the paintwork on the sign, but was undamaged himself and seemed content to keep up the much louder response to the "other guy" high up in a nearby tree.

Brian made a short video, and if the volume is up, you can hear the first woodpecker drumming high up in the tree, followed quickly by the sharp rapping of the louder guy down on the trailside sign.

Brian also snuck a few photos of two mourning doves snuggling on his back deck through his kitchen window.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/f0gnde1q83tsjp42zj9ik/YELLOW-BELLIED-SAPSUCKERS-DRUMMING.-APRIL-16-2026.-BRIAN-STONE.mp4?rlkey=s9op55a0w4eq8dh50z7a8yypc&st=2v6epqkx&dl=0

**This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2026 April 18 – April 25
When people see a telescope that doesn’t look like it came from a department store, they often ask how far you can see with it. The answer is difficult to explain and even more difficult to comprehend. Sometimes I just say “way far” and hope they don’t press for details.

This weekend the brightest object in the evening sky is the Moon, near its closest at about 362,000 kilometres (km). The next brightest object is Venus, currently at 224 million km, while Uranus, possibly within a binocular view lower left of the Pleiades, is 3 billion km away. Light travels at 300,000 km per second, so at 150 million km the Sun is a distance of 500 light seconds away. The Moon is a tad more than one light second away, Venus is 12.4 light minutes, and Uranus nearly 3 light hours.

The brightest star we see in the evening now is still Sirius, the closest star we can see from New Brunswick at 8.6 light years (ly). The next brightest is Arcturus and it is 37 ly or 350 trillion kilometres. The Pleiades are about 440 ly away and Alnilam, the middle star of Orion’s belt, is 2000 light years. If you are under a dark sky well before morning twilight you might get a naked eye glimpse of the Andromeda Galaxy at a distance of 2.5 million light years. Binoculars will reveal galaxies even more distant, but at what point do these distances become incomprehensible and “way far” is a reasonable answer?

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:27 and sunset will occur at 8:10, giving 13 hours, 43 minutes of daylight (6:33 and 8:14 in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:15 and set at 8:19, giving 14 hours, 4 minutes of daylight (6:22 and 8:22 in Saint John).

The slim crescent Moon is to the right of Venus this Saturday, above the Pleiades on Sunday, near Jupiter Wednesday, and it reaches first quarter on Thursday. With next Saturday being the closest to the first quarter Moon after Easter it becomes International Astronomy Day, and Astronomy Week runs April 20-26. If you want to start the week with a tough binocular challenge, on Monday try to see Mars, Saturn and Mercury rising due east in a span of eight minutes about half an hour before sunrise. They form a line with dimmest Mars upper left and brightest Mercury lower right. Early Wednesday morning is the best time to catch some shooting stars of the Lyrid meteor shower emanating from a point overhead.

Tune in to the Sunday Night Astronomy Show at 8 pm on the YouTube channel and Facebook page of Astronomy by the Bay.

Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

HARLEQUIN DUCK (MALE). APRIL 16, 2026. DAVID ROGERS

YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER. APRIL 14, 2026. BRIAN STONE

AMERICAN WIGEON DUCK (MALE). APRIL 16, 2026. BRIAN STONE

AMERICAN WIGEON DUCK (FEMALE). APRIL 16, 2026. BRIAN STONE

YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER (MALE). APRIL 16, 2026. BRIAN STONE

MOURNING DOVES. APRIL 16, 2026. BRIAN STONE

EASTERN PHOEBE. APRIL 14, 2026. DAVID LILLY

West on April 19 evening

Thursday, 16 April 2026

April 16 2026

Nature Moncton Nature News

Clicking on the photos enlarges them for closer observation.

If you would like to share observations/photos with Nature News, contact the editor, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Please advise the editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com, as well as proofreader nicholsl@eastlink.ca, if any errors are noted in wording or photo labelling.

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

**Leigh Eaton captured a screenshot of the peregrine falcon nest at 10:23 AM on Wednesday morning to find that a 4th egg was present/ being deposited. For the past 2 years that the camera has been in place, the clutch size has been 4. The literature suggests that the typical clutch size is 3-5; however, we will all be happy with 4, which is quite enough for the parents to care for.

https://www.zoodemagnetichillzoo.ca/nest-cam

PEREGRINE FALCON (10:23 AM WEDNESDAY). APRIL 15, 2026. LEIGH EATON

**Georges Brun observes the roosting of the peregrine falcons over the big A of Assumption Place nearly 365 days each year, and unless the female that is on the nest at the moment is friendly enough to give her spot to another pair, call in the UN Peacemakers!

The female is on the A at least 90% of the time, in the same right-top location. The male is usually on the left side, but mostly on the lower inner side.

The female has her left nostril (nares) misaligned, and this is the bird now on the nest.

(Editor’s note: Georges’ comment is one of the ways to distinguish the female of the pair. Both nares are perfectly round in the male, but the nares on the left side of the female is slightly misaligned and projects slightly, which is visible when she is in the right position to the camera. Another method to help identify the female is the size. She is approximately 25% larger than the male, and when in the box, gives the impression of taking up more space.)

**Louise Nichols was in Moncton on Tuesday, and she visited the back end of Irishtown Park. Bird Activity was quiet, but like Brian Stone last week, Louise saw numerous infant moths flying about and was able to get a photograph of one that landed on the ground not far from her. Afterward, she drove up the road to Tankville School and walked the trail behind. Not long after she started, she spotted a brown creeper not far from the trail. She watched it doing its usual behavior of creeping up one tree, then flying down to the lower trunk of the tree next to it, creeping up again, and repeating the sequence. She heard a pileated woodpecker several times as she walked the trail, but was not able to spot one; however, signs of them were there as numerous snags showed recent excavations likely made by pileated woodpeckers. Just when the trail moved into the woods, Louise saw her first hermit thrush of the season

**A single Merlin showed up in Brian Coyle's backyard on Wednesday, calling incessantly from the top of a dead tree. Brian is fairly confident that this is one of the mated pair that have nested nearby for the last two years.

(Editor’s note: this is a good example of nest fidelity where birds can return to the same general area to nest year after year, especially if that site has been successful in previous years.)

Brian captured a nice video clip with the audio of the Merlin vocalization. Check it out at the link below:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/7q3w0rewanu14kdwiiyq7/MERLIN-BRIAN-COYLE.MOV?rlkey=o2ktzyddb0231h2pg5cdxp6eb&st=b58s9mez&dl=0

**Shannon Inman photographed a pair of Canada geese on their nest, a blue-winged teal, and a pine warbler. They had a palm warbler go through the yard, but no photo op.

Shannon also got a photo of a distant belted kingfisher with a small minnow prey, a savannah sparrow, and a bee house that had been damaged, possibly by a woodpecker.

John Inman spotted a new rusty blackbird arrive to the yard. John notes the new arrivals seem to stop and move on quickly.

**Brian and Annette Stone joined family at Fundy National Park on Tuesday for a scenic outing and picnic by the shore. A walk around McLaren pond and the campsite above it resulted in several interesting sightings to report. Around the pond they saw Canada geese acting up, a small group of ring-necked ducks, a kingfisher that was too fast to be captured by the camera, a red-breasted nuthatch defying gravity, feeding upside down under a branch, and coltsfoot flowers that were too cool to open fully.

Up at the campsite, palm warblers, eastern phoebes, and golden-crowned kinglets were foraging in the trees, while a brown creeper was searching tree bark for tasty tidbits, and yellow-rumped warblers were doing the same in the apple tree branches. Other birds caught on camera were a fresh-looking savannah sparrow, some American crows bringing attention to a caution sign at the cliff's edge, and a song sparrow showing off on the rocks at the beach in Alma.