Nature Moncton Nature News: April 30 2015

** A reminder that Nature Moncton’s duck workshop and field trip will take place on Saturday. It looks like Louise Nichols timed this one perfectly as there should be good weather. Make sure to bring rubber boots and appropriate outdoor clothing for the field trip afterwards, to look for ducks in some spots that Roger LeBlanc knows well.

** Georges Brun noted and got photos of a selection of birds feeding at the mouth of Halls Creek and upriver on Wednesday. There was only one COMMON EIDER [Eider à duvet], but 20+ DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS [Cormoran à aigrettes] and a half dozen RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS [Harle huppé]. I assume that Smelt [Éperlan] are running. It seems early for Gaspereau but that could be an attraction as well. Note the blazing blue eye with ornamented eye ring of the Double-crested Cormorant breeding adult that Georges captured in one photo.

** A nice close-up photo went out yesterday of a MUSKRAT [Rat musqué] that was labelled as a Beaver. Bob Blake picked up the mislabelled photo, pointing out that it was working on cat-tails and no tail was showing. On close looks, what may be the real clincher is the paws. Both beavers and muskrats have 5 toe pads and claws, front and hind, but the inner toe pad and nail come off higher up on the front leg of the muskrat, which is why it does not register in a track of that animal. That feature shows really nicely in the photo, which, corrected, is being re-sent today.

** Louise Richard noticed an OSPREY [Balbuzard pêcheur] hover-hunting over Jones Lake [Moncton] on Wednesday, to be chased away by two gulls [goéland sp.]. The lake is lowered at the moment because of the heavy rains. [Transcriber’s note: Interestingly, yesterday at Mary's Point a migrant Osprey that made two passes along the beach, hovering above the advancing tide in search of fish, was buzzed three times by a GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL [Goéland marin]. After the third attack, the Osprey disappeared over the point to Shepody Bay. — DSC

There have been COMMON MERGANSERS [Grand Harle] and HOODED MERGANSERS [Harle couronné] on Jones lake this week as well. I have placed minnow live traps in the lake in the past, to see what was there, and was amazed at the number of minnows there, especially BANDED KILLIFISH [].

** A lost voice heard from again. Clarence Cormier has returned to his Grand-Digue residence after wintering in Montreal. On his return, a pair of very tame BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES [Mésange à tête noire] were waiting to head right for his shoulder to tell him to get the buffet set. He set up his feeders on Saturday, and since then has had many of the expected regular birds promptly re-finding the food, including a NORTHERN FLICKER [Pic flamboyant], a SAVANNAH SPARROW [Bruant des prés] and 3 AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS [Bruant hudsonien]. A nice plump RED FOX [Renard roux] is checking things out, as is a SNOWSHOE HARE [Lièvre d'Amérique] that is changing into summer pelage, still with ample white, but tan areas are appearing.

** A calendar date to jot down for a nearby field trip that Nature Moncton is welcome to come along to; the Salisbury Naturalists’ Club will have a trip around the Salisbury lagoons on Saturday, May 30, at 9 a.m., starting at the treatment plant on Government Road, next to the trailer park. These lagoons often hold a nice variety of birds and the surrounding shrubbery can give a nice variety as well.

The Nature Moncton workshop and field trip write-up is below

What’s that duck?

Workshop and outing with Roger LeBlanc

Saturday May 2^nd, 2015

With the arrival of spring -- and believe it or not, it will come -- many birds species that have left us for more moderate

climates will be coming back. And one of the first groups to return, and certainly the most colourful, is ducks. Dressed in their spring best, they will first be congregating in bays, waterways and impoundments before getting down to the arduous matter of producing next year’s waves of offerings. So this is the perfect time to learn to recognize them or simply brush up on your duck ID skills. To help you out with this, Nature Moncton will be offering a combination workshop and outing “What’s that Duck?” with our own Roger Leblanc. We will first use the morning to study the almost 30 species of ducks that can be expected in the region. We will learn how to separate them by habitats and habits, then we will go on to field marks, behaviors and share with Roger his experience-based “tools of the trade” for duck identification. After lunch, we will head out to a couple of hot spots in the Moncton region where ducks are findable in mixed groups at this time of year and work, with Roger’s help, on using the knowledge learned in the morning workshop. All in all, a good learning and fun-filled day that should help you better answer the question : “What’s that duck?”

Saturday May 2nd, 9:00 am to 12:00 pm

Tankville School, 1665 Elmwood Dr., Moncton -- followed by outing in the area (bring a lunch).

Registration with Judi Berry-Steeves at jbsteeve@nbnet.nb.ca or phone Judi at 387-4778.

$10 payable at the door to cover costs of workshop and outing. All are welcome, Nature Moncton member or not.

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca