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**The message below appeared in the May 9, 2026 edition of Nature News:
Frank Branch shares a few
photos of a plover that he and Michel Roy took at the wharf at Le Goulet
on Saturday afternoon (May 9, 2026). Frank was waiting for a 100% I.D. before
sending photos, but no one has been 100% confident so far.
Some think it might
be a Pacific golden-plover, but it is still being studied. The bird flew away and was never seen again. Frank is waiting for that 100% I.D.
(Editor’s note: Regardless
of the final identification, this is a very significant sighting in New
Brunswick!)
As a follow-up, Frank
received a message from the NB Bird Records Committee, which met this past
weekend, with some very interesting news about Frank and Michel’s sighting and
Frank’s photograph.
The committee unanimously confirmed that the sighting was a Pacific golden-plover, and it represents the first occurrence of this species in New Brunswick.
Congratulations, Frank
and Michel!
**Brian Stone visited the
lagoons at Hampton on Monday morning and ran into Richard Blacquiere while he was scanning the ponds for new arrivals. They had a good walk and talk,
and Brian got to see him reward an American crow with peanuts for saying
hello. Richard spotted a merlin flying over being
harassed by another crow, and Brian tried a quick flight photo that was
maybe just documentary quality at best.
He then turned his
attention to the buffleheads in the ponds and photographed both males
and females. He also photographed a female common goldeneye duck that
came close, and a pair of wasp nests at different heights: one large,
melon-sized one up about 9 meters in a tree, and one orange-sized one down
a slope below his feet. Elsewhere on a roadside in Upham, a bald eagle
was perching beside a nest that has been used regularly in the past.
(Editor’s note: we are
used to seeing social above-ground wasp nests as grey, but sometimes they can come in other
blended colours if the wasps find items such as coloured paper to construct
their nests.)
**Richard Blacquiere
reports the details of his crow adventure in experiencing their intelligence.
I am quoting Richard's interesting comments below:
“It all started early last
winter. On my walks down to the lagoon, there was a pair that quickly learned
that I would throw them peanuts if they came close. I noticed one would
occasionally vocalize, making a sound that resembled ‘hello’. If I heard that,
it would get an extra peanut. Well, the crow quickly learned the cause and
effect of saying ‘hello’. Now, if it’s around, it may ask several times as I
walk down to the lagoon trail. It’s interesting that if no other crows are around,
it grabs the peanut, flies off, and hides it. But if other crows are watching,
it will eat the peanut right there. So, maybe I did some training. But I’m
willing to admit that the crow did a bit of training, too. The crow gets the
reward of the peanut, while my reward is hearing it say ‘hello’.”
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
