Nature Moncton Nature
News
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**Nature Moncton’s annual
birdfeeder tour will be taking place on Saturday, February 21. Advance
registration is requested, and all details are at the end of this message with
the announcement repeated near the date and upfront.
**Lynne
Renton got a video clip of a group of turkeys that have arrived in her
Wheaton Settlement yard to partake of the cracked corn she puts out for
ring-necked pheasants. Take a look at the action in the video link below,
followed by some interesting comments offered by Jim Wilson after viewing the
video.
Quoting
Jim Wilson’s interesting comments:
“Well,
many of these turkeys appear to be quite young birds, but there are at least a
couple of older ones, looks like a hen and a tom (with a beard). I counted
about 10.
It's getting hard to separate "wild" birds from small groups that might have been liberated by well-meaning people, as turkeys now seem to be turning up deeper and deeper across the province in cultivated areas. I certainly can't be sure about these birds, but based on the number of them (about a clutch size) and the presence of what looks like a pair of older birds, this looks to me to be a family group. But were they liberated together, or did they reach Wheaton Settlement on their own from further west? Impossible to say with any certainty, except that the location would seem to be pretty far east yet for a natural spread in my opinion.”
**Jessica
Belanger-Mainville & Gwen Clark went on an afternoon walk at Mapleton Park
on Sunday, Feb 8th. They saw and heard lots of birds, notably a brown
creeper, a flock of common redpolls, and a male mallard duck
sitting at a table ready to be served its dinner. They also saw a few downy
woodpeckers and a hairy woodpecker. Unfortunately for them, they did not see an
owl for this Superb Owl Day.
**Jane LeBlanc had the immature sharp-shinned hawk visit again on Sunday morning. Again, it left hungry.
Jane also happened to be out in her St. Martins yard when an immature bald eagle circled several times. She got a documentary photo.
**John
Inman sends photos of a pair of young white-tailed deer from last spring, with one
of them driving the other away from its food source and the mother quite
intent on her mission with ears laid flat and boxing gloves on!
John
also photographed a common redpoll sampling a seed and two red-winged
blackbirds searching the snow for seed.
**Sterling Marsh noticed
some interesting patterns in the snow close to his garden on Friday morning.
Upon closer inspection, he found tiny little tracks/trail that are suspected to
be a shrew (with an artistic flair!). Fascinating designs.
**Nature Moncton’s Annual Bird Feeder Tour
The annual Nature Moncton bird feeder tour will
take place on Saturday, February 21, 2026, at 9:00 AM, with a bad weather date
of Saturday, February 28, 2026, also at 9:00 AM. It will kick off with a
pancake breakfast at the home of Fred and Sue Richards at 31 Rockland
No. 1 Road, Taylor Village (Memramcook). Pancakes, sausages, coffee, and
tea will be provided. If you want to contribute to
the meal, please do, but plan to take your leftovers with you to
the locations after breakfast. The next location will be at the home of
Yolande and Eudor LeBlanc at 251 Rue Centrale
St., Memramcook. The feeder yard there is well protected, and viewing can
be done from inside a large shed close to the feeders. You will then
continue on to the home of Gordon
and Lanah Rattray at 2535 Rt. 114, Weldon,
NB (Hillsborough). Gordon says you should pull off the road into his
driveway, as there is lots of room in his yard. The final stop will be at
the home of Nature Moncton President Cathy Simon at 3281 Mountain
Rd., Lutes Mountain, NB (Moncton). You will need to register for
this event as space will be limited to 24 people. Please register by
sending an email to outandabout4nm@gmail.com with a subject line of “2026
Bird Feeder Tour” and letting us know how many are in your
party. If you are interested in carpooling as either a driver
or passenger, please indicate that in the email. All are welcome, but members will be given priority.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
