Nature Moncton Nature
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**Nature
Moncton Movie Night is on tonight. Watch, and share your thoughts on this
special movie. All details below:
Feb.
5, 2026, at 7:00 PM, via Zoom
Film: Migrations with Alain Clavette and Zachary
Richard, a film by Roger Leblanc.
Birds
and migration have always fascinated mankind. Zachary Richard, the Cajun singer-songwriter,
got interested in birds many years ago and started observing and recording
birds in his own backyard. Later, wanting to learn more, he teamed up with
experts on the subject, one of whom was New Brunswick birder Alain Clavette. It
was their mutual interest in nature that brought them together, but it was also
a coming together of two “Acadies,” the original one from the north and the
more recent “Cajun” from the south. From the unending mud flats of the upper
Bay of Fundy to the luxuriant bayous of Southwestern Louisiana and back to the
bird “nursery” islands of Southeastern New Brunswick, the exceptional footage
in this film helps foster an intimate meeting with the birds and their habitat
expressed in Zachary Richard's music.
The film is in French with English subtitles
Roger
Leblanc was a New Brunswick naturalist and film maker. He was a long-time member of Nature Moncton
and a board member of both Nature Moncton and Nature New Brunswick. Before his sudden passing in 2023, he was
always available to lead a workshop or outing.
He is very much missed.
Please
use the link below to join us for this event:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81735384703?pwd=arDCR7Dvgl2bJp6lMGemJPDzMBYya3.1
**Another
uncommon leucistic evening grosbeak has become a patron at the bird
feeder yard of Charlotte and Glen Betts in Renous near Miramichi. This is the
second one that has been reported this season and possibly reflects the high
number of evening grosbeaks we are enjoying this winter.
John
Inman had a leucistic evening grosbeak appear earlier in the season in Harvey,
Albert Co., so it is unlikely this is the same bird.
(Editor’s
note: I have had many evening grosbeaks visit my own feeders over many years
and have seen only one of these before. It is a genetic quirk and will not
affect the health or well-being of this stand-out
individual among the crowd.)
**George
Brun reports that on Feb. 3, 2026, more common mergansers arrived at the
bend of the Petitcodiac. The six birds were all males. On Wednesday,
Feb. 4, 2026, the females arrived. Their number was also six. Also, 11
Canada geese have returned from downriver or Nova Scotia.
George
was at least a 1/2 km away when he took these photos, with lots of variability as far as the quality of images. Temperature plays tricks, especially
with humidity. The wind, when it oscillates from low speed to a steady 35
km/hr can make a difference, along with rain or drizzle. Cloud cover and, of course, the sun in your
face or on the back of your neck can also play a part. Everybody has been through this!
**Brian Stone searched
along the Shediac area coastline on Wednesday for any open water spots that
might be hosting ducks or other seabirds.
At the Cormierville wharf,
there was no open water in sight, but an apple tree nearby was populated with a
large group of Bohemian waxwings accompanied by a few female pine
grosbeaks and some European starlings.
In a couple of open-water
spots that he found, there were small numbers of common mergansers and red-breasted
mergansers. Mallard and black ducks were plentiful, and common goldeneye
ducks were present in a couple of areas, as were just a few Barrow's
goldeneye ducks.
Brian saw two small flocks
of snow buntings pass over as he was driving, and in the name of safety, he
didn't take his hands off the wheel to take photos. A resting 1st-winter Iceland gull
finished off Brian's photo excursion.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
