Nature Moncton Nature
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**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.
The
parent (s) are spending a lot more time in the box and, notably, appear to be
preparing the depression/scrape for that first egg. There has been a report of
the male bringing a starling to feed to the female.
https://www.zoodemagnetichillzoo.ca/nest-cam
**Don MacAulay reports that a
new duo of Canada geese have arrived at Blue Heron condominiums at the
corner of Blue Heron Drive and Rabbit Brook in Moncton.
**On Monday, Brian and
Annette Stone checked out a few spots around Moncton and the surrounding areas.
At Highland Park in Salisbury, they saw some Canada geese, blue jays,
red-winged blackbirds, many common grackles, northern cardinals, a pair of common
mergansers, and a small flock of evening grosbeaks, among other
regulars.
A second stop at the east
end of Wilson Marsh was productive, and a good selection of birds was present,
including many that were seen at their earlier stop such as northern cardinals,
red-winged blackbirds, and common grackles, with the addition of American
goldfinches, American robins, American tree sparrows, purple finches,
and a small, distant group of common redpolls.
A third stop at Jones Lake
gave views of more common mergansers and many gulls, most being herring
gulls and ring-billed gulls, and at least a dozen lesser black-backed
gulls. The commonly reported wood ducks from the lake did not show up for
Brian, but maybe next time.
(Editor’s note: We don’t
often get this excellent opportunity to get photos of the lesser black-backed gull
intermingling with other gull species at such close range and to be able to note the
size comparison. A lesser black-backed gull is bigger than a ring-billed gull but
smaller than a herring gull and much smaller than a great black-backed gull. Its yellow legs are a major tip-off to the identity of the adult lesser black-backed
gull.
All adult gulls at this
time of year have a clean, white, unstreaked head.
This time of spring is a
good time to watch for the lesser black-backed gull as it migrates to breed
to the north of us, especially in Greenland.
Hard to hold back on
giving a gull dissertation with this photo selection!)
**Staghorn sumac berry clusters
are normally the last ones to be utilized by fruit-eating birds. The staghorn
sumac shrubs are still loaded with berries, and Nelson Poirier noted while
driving on Monday that almost all sumac shrubs along the highway were hosting
foraging American robins and starlings, but was surprised when he
stopped at one for a closer look to see a pair of black-capped chickadees
foraging as well.
A stop at the Bouctouche
Lagoon had many scaup that Nelson felt were all lesser scaup, but this stands
to be corrected as this is often the case with scaup. It would be assumed this
was a migratory stopover as they head to breeding grounds to the west of us.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
