Nature Moncton Nature News

Saturday, 25 April 2026

April 25 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.

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 so she can leave the precious cargo.

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

**A heads up on a Nature Moncton event coming up tomorrow, Sunday.

Earth Week Riverfront Cleanup
Meeting place: Parking lot at the Honourable Brenda Robertson Bridge, Moncton (the old dump)
Sunday, April 26, 2026
1:00–2:30 PM
Leader: Cathy Simon

Join us in helping clean up the riverfront for trail users, marsh wildlife, and our beloved downtown Peregrine Falcons. This is a great opportunity to take action for nature while enjoying some fresh air and good company.

We’ll work along sections of the Riverfront Trail near the bridge and surrounding marsh areas, helping remove litter and improve habitat for wildlife and the many people who enjoy the trail.

Please bring:
• work gloves
• weather-appropriate clothing and footwear
• your Nature Moncton name tag (if you have one).

The City of Moncton will provide garbage bags and non-latex gloves to wear over your work gloves. This event is part of the City of Moncton’s Earth Week Cleanup.

Optional social time:
After the cleanup, anyone interested is welcome to join us at Dandelion Café (1035 Main Street, Moncton) for a warm drink or snack and some bird-friendly conversation (optional and at participants’ own cost).

All ages are welcome—Nature Moncton members and non-members alike.

**The recorded Dropbox link to Gwen Clark’s Tuesday night presentation on wetlands, including marsh monitoring and the wildlife that uses them, is below for those who may have missed it or want to watch it again:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6h3uff4wxr1lmtlc7k3in/MARSH-MONITORING-PRESENTATION-GWEN-CLARK-APRIL-21-2026.mp4?rlkey=32y5cchoafspsmne9altzs1ud&st=9i30op1z&dl=0

**Gordon Rattray reports that his feeder yard has been very busy this week. He has had in excess of 12 purple finches all week, an equal mix of male and female. The usual flock of common grackles and red-winged black birds have been arriving, all very hungry.

Gordon has had many sparrows this week. Song sparrows are common visitors, but this week Gordon had white-throated, chipping sparrows, and savannah sparrows joining them, along with a few dark-eyed juncos.

This spring, Gordon has had a pair of mallard ducks coming for a feed of corn, and a male ring-necked pheasant has visited all winter. The pheasant started bringing a mate this week for corn. It was interesting on Wednesday evening when Gordon looked and observed both pairs in the yard together.

The highlight of the week was an eastern bluebird that stopped by to feed on the suet blocks. He stayed for about an hour and allowed pictures. Gordon has also had American goldfinch, mourning doves, hairy woodpeckers, a downy woodpecker pair, and a few visits from a pair of pine warblers. A northern flicker was spotted on the lawn, but no chance for a picture. The eastern phoebes have been spotted looking over their old nesting site.

**It appears that the merlin pair is setting up housekeeping next door to Brian Coyle again. Brian witnessed one of the pair attempting to chase a killdeer in flight, but it was unsuccessful.

**Brian Stone sends a few more photos from one of his trips to Wilson Marsh. On Wednesday, he was walking down the beginning of the path at the Bell St. entrance, and he stopped under the apple tree spot and waited for the birds to relax and get used to him. As everyone knows, that never happens, so he had to be content with seeing them at a distance, moving quickly through the trees and occasionally coming almost close enough for a photo A couple exceptions to this pattern were more than a dozen cedar waxwings that were flying through the nearby trees and out over the ponds snatching up insects, plus just one of the several yellow-rumped warblers that were doing the same. A special exception was a single pine warbler that foraged through the trees fairly close to Brian and seemed unconcerned with being watched. As Brian moved further along the trail and got beside the first edge of the pond on the right side of the trail, an American bittern was startled out of its hiding place quite near the trail and flew off in a hurry, also startling Brian in return. He managed only a few rear-end photos as it flew away, which is what he usually gets with this subject. Brian also got photos of a very vocal swamp sparrow singing its spring song.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

EASTERN BLUEBIRD (MALE). APR 24, 2026. GORDON RATTRAY

PINE WARBLER. APRIL 23, 2026. BRIAN STONE

MERLIN. APRIL 24, 2026. BRIAN COYLE

MALLARD DUCKS AND RING-NECKED PHEASANT (PAIR), APR 24, 2026. GORDON RATTRAY

COMMON GRACKLE, APR 24, 2026. GORDON RATTRAY

CHIPPING SPARROWS. APR 24, 2026. GORDON RATTRAY

CEDAR WAXWING. APRIL 23, 2026. BRIAN STONE

AMERICAN BITTERN. APRIL 23, 2026. BRIAN STONE

YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER. APRIL 23, 2026. BRIAN STONE

WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, APR 24, 2026. GORDON RATTRAY

SWAMP SPARROW. APRIL 23, 2026. BRIAN STONE

SAVANNAH SPARROW. APR 24, 2026. GORDON RATTRAY

RING-NECKED PHEASANT (PAIR). APR 24, 2026. GORDON RATTRAY

PURPLE FINCHES. APR 24, 2026. GORDON RATTRAY

Friday, 24 April 2026

April 24 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

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

**A heads up on the Nature Moncton event coming up this weekend

Earth Week Riverfront Cleanup
Meeting place: Parking lot at the Honourable Brenda Robertson Bridge, Moncton (the old dump)
Sunday, April 26, 2026
1:00–2:30 PM
Leader: Cathy Simon

Join us in helping clean up the riverfront for trail users, marsh wildlife, and our beloved downtown peregrine falcons. This is a great opportunity to take action for nature while enjoying some fresh air and good company.

We’ll work along sections of the Riverfront Trail near the bridge and surrounding marsh areas, helping remove litter and improve habitat for wildlife and the many people who enjoy the trail.

Please bring:
• work gloves
• weather-appropriate clothing and footwear
• your Nature Moncton name tag (if you have one).

The City of Moncton will provide garbage bags and non-latex gloves to wear over your work gloves. This event is part of the City of Moncton’s Earth Week Cleanup.

All ages are welcome—Nature Moncton members and non-members alike.

**On Wednesday, Brian and Annette Stone visited Highland Park and Wilson Marsh once again to enjoy another spring outing. At Highland Park, Brian photographed a bright palm warbler, a pair of equally bright male wood ducks, and a male yellow-bellied sapsucker.

While Brian was photographing the sapsucker, Annette alerted him to an odd noise coming from a large tree beside the trail. After a few minutes of searching the side of the tree that was in shadow, a grey squirrel that blended in nicely with the grey bark came into focus and appeared to be making the noise. In the binocular view a reason for the squirrel's immobility and different sounding noise became clear as a second squirrel was seen hiding in a hole beside the first squirrel. Brian assumes he and Annette were being warned away from a nesting site, and after a couple photos they moved on.

At Wilson Marsh, Brian heard a woodpecker loudly pecking away at a tree near the trail and he spotted a male hairy woodpecker busily excavating a nesting hole. The female woodpecker was found on a tree a short distance away along the trail, assuming they are a mated pair.

(Editor’s note: Note in Brian’s photo that the excavated hole of the woodpecker is the exact size of its body, purposely done to allow nothing bigger than the woodpecker to enter.)

A male green-winged teal duck, a pied-billed grebe, evening grosbeaks, and what might be a small bumblebee on willow catkins ( distant and backlit, so a low-quality photo) were also photographed before Brian headed to the tree swallow area to take a hundred or more photos of those new arrivals that will be sent another day.

**This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2026 April 25 – May 2

I was fascinated by the movie Hercules, starring bodybuilder Steve Reeves, which I saw one Saturday afternoon at the long-gone Vogue theatre in McAdam sometime in the early 60s. I was nurturing my interest in the sky at that time so the constellation of Hercules has long been a part of my life. These spring evenings it is in the east as twilight fades.

Look for a keystone asterism one third of the way from the bright star Vega toward equally bright Arcturus; that is the upside-down body of the legendary strongman. Hercules is usually depicted down on his right knee, with his left foot on the head of Draco the Dragon and his head close to that of Ophiuchus. Originally the constellation was called The Kneeler, and the star at his head is called Rasalgethi for “head of the Kneeler.” It is the alpha star of the constellation, although Kornephoros (the club bearer) is brighter.

With binoculars you can pick out two globular clusters from the Messier catalogue in Hercules. Globular clusters are ancient compact groups of typically tens-to-hundreds of thousands of stars that orbit our galaxy’s core. One third of the way from the top right star of the Keystone to the bottom right star is M13, perhaps the finest globular cluster in the northern hemisphere. A line from the bottom right star through the middle of the top of the Keystone, and extended about an equal distance, will put you in the area of M92, one of the oldest objects in our galaxy.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:15 and sunset will occur at 8:19, giving 14 hours, 4 minutes of daylight (6:22 and 8:22 in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:04 and set at 8:28, giving 14 hours, 24 minutes of daylight (6:11 and 8:31 in Saint John).

The Moon skims below Regulus in Leo on Saturday (International Astronomy Day), passes near Spica in Virgo on Wednesday and it is full on Friday. Venus is getting higher each evening, working its way toward a close conjunction with Jupiter in early June. On Monday telescope users might see Jupiter’s moon Ganymede reappear from behind the planet at 11:16 pm with the Red Spot in view near the middle. By the end of the week Saturn will be rising an hour before sunrise followed by Mars ten minutes later. Mercury is moving too close to the Sun for observing.

Tune in to the 300th edition of the Sunday Night Astronomy Show at 8 pm on the YouTube channel and Facebook page of Astronomy by the Bay. The Saint John Astronomy Club meets in the Rockwood Park Interpretation Centre at 7 pm on May 2.

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

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

WOOD DUCKS (MALE). APRIL 22, 2026. BRIAN STONE

PIED-BILLED GREBE. APRIL 22, 2026. BRIAN STONE

PALM WARBLER. APRIL 22, 2026. BRIAN STONE

HAIRY WOODPECKER (MALE). APRIL 22, 2026. BRIAN STONE

HAIRY WOODPECKER (FEMALE). APRIL 22, 2026. BRIAN STONE

GREEN-WINGED TEAL (MALE). APRIL 22, 2026. BRIAN STONE

EVENING GROSBEAK (MALE). APRIL 22, 2026. BRIAN STONE

EVENING GROSBEAK (FEMALE). APRIL 22, 2026. BRIAN STONE

YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER (MALE). APRIL 22, 2026. BRIAN STONE

GREY SQUIRRELS. APRIL 22, 2026. BRIAN STONE

BEE. APRIL 22, 2026. BRIAN STONE

Hercules 2026

Thursday, 23 April 2026

April 23 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

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

**Louise Nichols noted some yellow-spotted salamander egg masses in the small pond behind their house in Aulac.

Normally, wood frogs would also lay eggs in this pond, but Louise has not seen or heard any wood frogs there this year.

(Editor’s note: It is not unusual for the eggs of this salamander to take on the milky white colouration that Louise’s photo shows. The eggs themselves will often take on a green colour due to a symbiotic relationship with algae, where oxygen is supplied to the embryo.)

**In Miramichi, Peter and Deana Gadd had a busy day at their bird feeders, hosting 22 species altogether. Some wintering birds are still hanging about, such as redpolls and American tree sparrows. Other species were possibly finishing up their summer northward migration. Thirty-six days after the first visit by a male red-winged blackbird, a female paid a visit. They were treated on Wednesday evening with a visit by a pine warbler that enjoyed a snack of peanuts. A fox sparrow worked hard earlier in the day to find buried food, scratching vigorously on the ground. Pine siskins have finally arrived, and a brown-headed cowbird held its own amongst the larger common grackles and male red-winged blackbirds. While feeders were being restocked, a red squirrel took advantage of an unattended jug of sunflower seeds and helped itself! The grey squirrels and chipmunks were not so opportunistic.

**Tree swallows are often noted checking potential bird boxes; then they return to nest a week or so later. It would seem from what folks are seeing that the actual nesting is now taking place.

Cynthia Doucet has been spending the last week in Quinan, NS, where she watched tree swallows inspect the houses available around her parents’ home.

**While walking along the trail at Wilson Marsh on Wednesday at the Dutchill Dr. end, Brian and Annette Stone turned a corner and entered the wet, swampy area of the trail where the tree swallows were congregating to view the large numbers of swallows and hopefully get some interesting photos. As the ponds came into sight, they heard a loud wind rushing sound and suddenly saw what would have been a large dust devil on land, but was a water devil over water, which is a rotating column of air, a spinning vortex, caused by atmospheric conditions. This vortex hit a clump of trees and grasses out in the pond and sucked water, debris, and a small flock of ducks up into the air in a very mini version of a tornado. Brian immediately opened the phone to the video app and started recording, but by then the best was over, and the video shows the water being strongly swirled in a circular motion, and the fading sound of the vortex as it passed them and moved out into the marsh to dissipate.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/2nvk9i2pxs804t6zoe9c9/WATER-DEVIL.-APRIL-22-2026.-BRIAN-STONE.mp4?rlkey=qduh9cybu4tiw8oc0f4tl5436&st=ag2yyetn&dl=0

**On Tuesday, Brian and Annette Stone had a short walk in Mapleton Park and found several interesting birds not far from the Gorge Rd. entrance. Their first encounter was with four eastern phoebes that were flitting about beside the trail, and a dozen or more evening grosbeaks at a home feeder. Further along, around the main pond, a couple of dozen cedar waxwings were hawking insects from the trees and were oblivious to walkers who stopped to view their activity and take a few photos. A lone male ring-necked duck was sharing the pond with a few mallard ducks. Some honey bees were taking advantage of the blooming coltsfoot flowers, and a daphne shrub was blooming as well.

(Editor’s note: The daphne shrub is a very early blooming, very fragrant non-native cultivar plant that often produces brightly coloured berries. Its popularity as a cultivar has decreased due to the toxic compounds in its fruit, leaves, and bark.)

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

YELLOW-SPOTTED SALAMANDER EGG MASSES. APRIL 22, 2026. LOUISE NICHOLS

PINE WARBLER. APRIL 22, 2026. PETER GADD

EASTERN PHOEBE. APRIL 21, 2026. BRIAN STONE

EVENING GROSBEAKS (MALE). APRIL 21, 2026. BRIAN STONE

CEDAR WAXWING. APRIL 21, 2026. BRIAN STONE

TREE SWALLOWS. APRIL 18, 2026. CYNTHIA DOUCET

RING-NECKED DUCK (MALE). APRIL 21, 2026. BRIAN STONE

DAPHNE. APRIL 21, 2026. BRIAN STONE

PUSSY WILLOW CATKINS (MALE). APRIL 21, 2026. BRIAN STONE

HONEYBEE CARRYING POLLEN. APRIL 21, 2026. BRIAN STONE

RED SQUIRREL. APRIL 22, 2026. PETER GADD

Wednesday, 22 April 2026

April 22 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

**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

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