Editor & Proofreader

Editor: Nelson Poirier    Proofreader: Louise Nichols

Wednesday, 22 April 2026

April 22 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

 

**A very special thank you to Gwen Clark from Birds Canada for giving a very interesting presentation to Nature Moncton on Tuesday night on marshlands and wetlands, elaborating on the very significant role they play as homes to a variety of wildlife and also the role they play in human welfare.

Gwen also explained how we, as naturalists, can play a role as citizen scientists to monitor and care for the health of wetlands.

This excellent presentation was recorded and will be available in a few days for those who missed it or want to hear it again.

 

**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 male and female take turns incubating the eggs almost constantly now. The female is on the nest most of the time, but the male always seems to be ready to give her short breaks allowing her to leave the precious cargo.


PEREGRINE FALCONS. (FEMALE) (MALE ON NEST). APR. 16, 2026. GEORGES BRUN


PEREGRINE FALCON (FEMALE). APR. 16, 2026. GEORGES BRUN


PEREGRINE FALCON (FEMALE). APR. 16, 2026. GEORGES BRUN



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

 

 

 

**Nature Moncton was represented at two events on the weekend.  Fred Richards attended an event on Saturday, April 18th, at Saint-Anselme Park in Dieppe.  Les Ami.e.s de la Nature du sud-est du N-B set up a display table and a workshop featuring the making of bee hotels.  Fred helped with the assembly of the bee hotels, and the event was well-organized and well-attended.  The families that came and made one of the hotels appeared to have a good time.  

 

The second event was held on Sunday, April 19th  at Resurgo Place in Moncton as part of their Discovery Labs Series.  Les Ami.e.s members, Marc Lanteigne and Richard Perron joined Marbeth Wilson and Fred and Sue Richards to meet visitors to Resurgo and talk about our clubs and show them some things of interest.  There were scats, skulls, and tracks on display (borrowed from Atlantic Wildlife Institute) and a display of nests brought by Les Ami.e.s.  Some photos are attached.

 

**Georges Brun saved a few screenshots of the peregrine falcons as they went about their day on April 16.   A song sparrow pair has returned to the Landing by Château Moncton as they have every year for some time. 

 

**Jane LeBlanc was sitting in her yard trying to photograph a fresh-looking white-throated sparrow when something else caught her eye. It was a palm warbler, something she doesn't ever see in her yard.

 

**Yvette Richard photographed an albinistic/leucistic American robin looking very sharp with its white adornments.

 

**John Inman updates daily arrivals at his Harvey feeder yard to include an evening grosbeak, a few more yellow-rump warblers, several savannah sparrows showing up, and loads of northern flickers going through.

 

**When Jessica Belanger-Mainville heard the report of a pair of harlequin ducks on the Petitcodiac River in Dieppe on Tuesday morning, she knew she had to go visit them. She was able to see them; they were taking a nap. She took a few pictures of the many American goldfinch in the nearby trees. After that, she heard a report of a ruddy duck at Jones Lake in Moncton and decided to go see it. She found it with the help of Marbeth Wilson. She also saw many ring-necked ducks, a pair of wood ducks, a muskrat, a song sparrow, a female black scoter, and a black-capped chickadee working in a cavity to build its nest. It was a very birdy day!

 

**On Monday, Brian Stone checked out two areas and found a bit more activity than he had over recent weeks. At Highland Park he got photos of one of a pair of ospreys that were fishing in the ponds, and that one eventually flew off with a fairly large bullhead fish, maybe a catfish of some type. He noticed at least a hundred tree swallows zipping around above the ponds searching for insect snacks. A pair of blue-winged teals and a shiny, bright common grackle joined a recently arrived pied-billed grebe in the photo lineup. Trout lily leaves were up in large masses, waiting for their flowers to bloom in the coming days.

 

At Brian's second stop on the Taylor Rd. in Second North River, Brian was surrounded by the loud calls of wood frogs in most of the ponds and got a few photos of several of them in a mating group consisting of four frogs very closely huddled together. He made a short video of their sounds to accompany the photos. The many coltsfoot flowers lining the side of the road were being pollinated by small, wild bees that Brian suspects were a variety of mining bee

 

Before leaving the house for his Monday outings, Brian finally found out which of the several possible culprits was tearing up his front lawn regularly and leaving a big mess behind. A large and bold common raven was seen and photographed, excavating chunks of lawn in search of whatever tasty morsels might lie below -- a handsome and intelligent bird just doing what it needed to get by, but oh, what a poor lawn service it supplied. 

 

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/c706zzydiecavthxt0l8m/WOOD-FROGS.-APRIL-20-2026.-BRIAN-STONE.mp4?rlkey=yasycr16hzb06az6tnljo1jgb&st=qdurpnxp&dl=0

 

 

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton


WOOD DUCK (MALE). APRIL 21, 2026. JESSICA BELANGER-MAINVILLE


WHITE-THROATED SPARROW. APRIL 20, 2026.  JANE LEBLANC


WHITE-THROATED SPARROW. APRIL 20, 2026.  JANE LEBLANC


SONG SPARROW. APRIL 21, 2026. JESSICA BELANGER-MAINVILLE


SONG SPARROW. APR. 16, 2026. GEORGES BRUN


SAVANNAH SPARROWS. APRIL 21, 2026.  JOHN INMAN


SAVANNAH SPARROW. APRIL 21, 2026.  JOHN INMAN


RUDDY DUCK (MALE). APRIL 21, 2026. JESSICA BELANGER-MAINVILLE


RING-NECKED DUCKS. APRIL 21, 2026. JESSICA BELANGER-MAINVILLE 


RING-NECKED DUCK (MALE). APRIL 21, 2026. JESSICA BELANGER-MAINVILLE 


PIED-BILLED GREBE. APRIL 20, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


PALM WARBLER. APRIL 20, 2026. JANE LEBLANC 


OSPREY (WITH BULLHEAD PREY). APRIL 20, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


HARLEQUIN DUCKS. APRIL 21, 2026. JESSICA BELANGER-MAINVILLE 


EVENING GROSBEAK (MALE). APRIL 21, 2026. JOHN INMAN


COMMON RAVEN. APRIL 20, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


BLUE-WINGED TEAL. APRIL 20, 2026. BRIAN STONE


BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE. APRIL 21, 2026. JESSICA BELANGER-MAINVILLE


AMERICAN ROBIN (LEUCISTIC ALBINISTIC). APR 20, 2026. YVETTE RICHARD 


AMERICAN GOLDFINCH. APRIL 21, 2026. JESSICA BELANGER-MAINVILLE 


YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER. APRIL 21, 2026.  JOHN INMAN


YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER. APRIL 21, 2026.  JOHN INMAN


WOOD FROGS. APRIL 20, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


WOOD FROG. APRIL 20, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


MUSKRAT. APRIL 21, 2026. JESSICA BELANGER-MAINVILLE


MINING BEE. APRIL 20, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


COLTSFOOT FLOWERS. APRIL 20, 2026. BRIAN STONE


TROUT LILY LEAVES. APRIL 20, 2026. BRIAN STONE





NATURE MONCTON MEETING. APRIL 21, 2026. SUSAN RICHARDS




EARTH DAY IN DIEPPE. APR. 18, 2026. FRED RICHARDS


RESURGO DISCOVERY DAYS. APR. 19, 2026. SUSAN RICHARDS


RESURGO DISCOVERY DAYS. APR. 19, 2026. SUSAN RICHARDS


RESURGO DISCOVERY DAYS. APR. 19, 2026. SUSAN RICHARDS






 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, 21 April 2026

April 21 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 Nature Moncton meeting will be taking place tonight Tuesday, April 21. This presentation will be live at the Mapleton Lodge, with the recorded version available later in the week. All details below:

 

April Nature Moncton Meeting Presentation


Wetlands and Citizen Science

Date:  April 21, 2026, at 7:00 PM

Place:  Mapleton Park Rotary Pavilion

Presenter:  Gwendolyn Clark

Join Marsh Monitoring Field Coordinator Gwendolyn Clark for an exploration of how citizen science contributes to population monitoring efforts for wetland birds. You’ll hear about the wonders of wetland habitats and their many ecosystem functions, the birds that call these habitats home, and how the Maritimes Marsh Monitoring Program tracks these elusive species. You’ll also get an introduction to the new Maritimes MarshWatch educational program, designed to make you a pro at identifying wetland species so you can start collecting data!

Don’t miss this chance to learn more about our wetlands just as spring approaches and wetland species return! This will be an in-person-only presentation at the Mapleton Lodge, with a recording available to view a few days later.  All are welcome, Nature Moncton member or not.

 

 

 

**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.

 

All seems quiet today on the peregrine falcon nest, with parents patiently incubating the precious egg cargo for another 3 weeks.

 

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

 

 

**Deanna Fenwick visited the Sackville Waterfowl Park and was thrilled to photograph her first warbler of the season - a palm warbler! There were several tree swallows, red-winged blackbirds, gadwalls and mallards, a few American wigeons, and two pied-billed grebes as well. The birding season has officially begun here in Sackville!

 

 

**John Inman photographed a common grackle with a few white tail feathers. He also photographed a common grackle with a muted brownish colouration, which he thought at first may be an immature, but with the brilliant yellow eyes, assumed it to be a female.

 

**Brian Stone and Nelson Poirier went birding on Friday in the Cocagne area, and Brian shares a few photos of the bird life they came across. While looking for, and waiting for, the snowy egret at the Cocagne Arena location (sadly it did not show) Brian took photos of some tree swallows congregating at a nesting box, a belted kingfisher resting on a branch at a distance, a pair of hooded mergansers, a couple song sparrows, a great blue heron flying overhead, an osprey on its nest, several red-breasted mergansers, distant black scoters, an American goldfinch, and an American tree sparrow.

(Editor’s note: hard to get a better photo than what Yvette Richard captured a day earlier!)

 

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton



PIED-BILLED GREBE. APRIL 20, 2026. DEANNA FENWICK


PALM WARBLER. APRIL 20, 2026. DEANNA FENWICK


OSPREY. APRIL 17, 2026. BRIAN STONE 




RED-BREASTED MERGANSER (MALE). APRIL 17, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


RED-BREASTED MERGANSER (FEMALE). APRIL 17, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


HOODED MERGANSERS. APRIL 17, 2026. BRIAN STONE


BLACK SCOTERS. APRIL 17, 2026. BRIAN STONE


BELTED KINGFISHER. APRIL 17, 2026. BRIAN STONE


AMERICAN TREE SPARROW. APRIL 17, 2026. BRIAN STONE


TREE SWALLOW. APRIL 20, 2026. DEANNA FENWICK


TREE SWALLOWS. APRIL 17, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


SONG SPARROW. APRIL 17, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS. APRIL 17, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


RED-BREASTED MERGANSER (MALE). APRIL 17, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


COMMON GRACKLE (FEMALE). APRIL 20, 2026. JOHN INMAN


COMMON GRACKLE (ALBINISTIC). APRIL 20, 2026. JOHN INMAN