** Richard Blacquiere captured a great photo of a VESPER SPARROW [Bruant
vespéral] that touched down near the Point Lepreau Bird Observatory on
Wednesday. Vesper Sparrows have a fondness for blueberry fields so I suspect
that it was en route to the large blueberry fields near the Point Lepreau area.
** Doreen Rossiter updates on activity at her Alma feeder yard. Sparrows
are in high numbers, with Wednesday’s troop including 50+ SONG SPARROWS [Bruant
chanteur], 50+ DARK-EYED JUNCOS [Junco ardoisé], and 8 FOX SPARROWS [Bruant
fauve], with only a few AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS [Bruant hudsonien] remaining. The
special sparrow of the day was a SWAMP SPARROW [Bruant des marais]; this is the
first one Doreen has had since March of 2008. Doreen has been seeing up to 7
TURKEY VULTURES [Urubu à tête rouge] from her home at various times. She says
that she would see Turkey Vultures every day last summer, and often wondered
about the possibility of a nest site at Owls Head or Joels Head, near Alma.
** Georges Brun got a photo of a pair of MALLARD [Canard colvert] ducks in
mating ritual, the female partially submerging below the water surface is part
of a ritual. Georges has also noted a RED SQUIRREL [Écureuil roux] seeking the
sweet sap of a sugar maple on Wednesday.
** Dave Christie reports that the new bird species for him on Wednesday
was a pair of BLUE-WINGED TEAL [Sarcelle à ailes bleues] on the Mary's Point
salt marsh. There were also 8 GREEN-WINGED TEAL [Sarcelle d'hiver] there, along
with lots of AMERICAN BLACK DUCKS [Canard noir].
Lots of sparrows and blackbirds were present at his feeders on Wednesday,
except for a time when they totally vacated, as an adult SHARP-SHINNED HAWK
[Épervier brun] perused the yard.
** Jocelyne Ross captured a photo of a bird in flight that we can now
expect to see a lot more of soon, a GREAT BLUE HERON [Grand Héron] at
Pointe-du-Chêne, where it found some open water. Jocelyne also photographed a
very cooperative PINE SISKIN [Tarin des pins].
** Jean-Paul and Stella LeBlanc noted 6 GREAT BLUE HERONS [Grand Héron] on
the ice near the bridge over the Little Bouctouche River on Route 134, at 6:30
p.m. on Tuesday. There was only one left at 8:30 p.m., when it was getting
dark.
** I am wondering if the BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS [Jaseur boréal] may be thinking
of "filing flight plans out.” The number coming to apples in our yard was down
on Wednesday to 35-40, less than half of what were present the day before. Over
the past ten days they have gone through 40 pounds of cull apples, with a bit of
help from a few AMERICAN ROBINS [Merle d'Amérique] and a NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD
[Moqueur polyglotte]. Their timing is good, as I was heading out for a third
20-pound bag of apples today, which would have been bad timing on my part.
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
