Nature Moncton Nature News: May 1 2015

** Last call for Nature Moncton's duck workshop and field trip starting tomorrow morning, Saturday, at 9:00 am at the Tankville School and ending up when it ends at local duck hot spots in the afternoon. Late registrants can call Judi Berry-Steeves at 389-4778. Conditions are looking excellent for this event.

** Jean-Paul and Stella LeBlanc were not able to relocate the SANDHILL CRANE [Grue du Canada] on Wednesday, but Thursday afternoon around 3:00 pm, they spotted the bird in flight coming from the same area where they first saw it on the Desroches Rd. near Bouctouche. The bird landed in a field opposite the house at civic # 151 on LeBlanc Rd.( the first street to the left coming from Potts Rd.) off route 134. They saw the bird in flight again and relocated it at the golf course on Girouardville Rd., near the club house. They were told that the bird was also there on Wednesday and early Thursday morning. The bird was also heard on Thursday across the road from the Ferme Michaud vegetable stand along Bouctouche Bay Rd.

** Aldo Dorio found a pair of HARLEQUIN DUCKS [Arlequin plongeur] at Hay Island Nature Park on Thursday. Hay Island Nature Park is near Val-Comeau, north of Miramichi off Rte. 11 and a very recommended birding stop when in that area. The Miramichi Naturalist Club does field trips there. Aldo also found 6 pairs of HARLEQUIN DUCKS [Arlequin plongeur] at the Lower Neguac wharf on Thursday and a LONG-TAILED DUCK [Harelde kakawi] that appears to be beginning to moult into breeding plumage. The Long-tailed Duck will be off soon to its breeding grounds to the north of us. Aldo got nice photos of birds that we don't often see up close.

** Bob Blake maintains a daily morning temperature and monthly precipitation record from his Second North River home and compares April of 2014 and April of 2015. One big difference was the noticeably lower morning temperatures of April 2015 compared to April of 2014, as well as the morning highs being significantly higher in April of 2014 than 2015 to suggest a much cooler April 2015 than 2014. For April of 2014, there were 21 mornings recorded at 0 degrees centigrade and lower with the lowest morning at -8 degrees. For April of 2015, there were also 21 mornings recorded at 0 degrees centigrade and lower; however, the lowest morning was -17 degrees centigrade, with another at -15 and another at -10. Bob recorded 25 cm of snow and 93 mm of rain in April of 2014, and 17 cm of snow and 78 mm of rain in 2015. A very cool, wet April for the arrival of the earlier-arriving insectivore birds to find food.

** Our resident NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD [Moqueur polyglotte] is obviously a male as we are now hearing vocalizations of several different bird species in the yard, only to look up to see that it's all coming from the one bird. It is not travelling with a mate as it was last year at this time, but from reports over the winter, I'm suspecting there are other individuals in the neighbourhood. Hope gender selection is appropriate.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton