Nature Moncton Nature News: March 23 2016

* The storm brought a different plumaged bird to Don Daigle's feeder yard on Monday. It turned out to be a HOUSE FINCH but an orange variant with unusually placed markings. It took a few reviews of Don's nice photos to call its identification. I have HOUSE FINCH regularly to my own feeder yard with the odd orange variant but never one marked like Don's visitor.

* The BLACK SCOTER are arriving. Carmella Melanson got a great photo of 4 males on Tuesday very actively vocalizing to a female who seems quite unimpressed with their chorus line. She saw approximately 62, predominantly males, with more farther out on the water off St. Thomas wharf

* Doreen Rossiter reports a huge turnout to her Alma feeder yard on the storm day of Monday feeding 300+ birds most of the day. The big numbers were 100+ SONG SPARROWS along with the first FOX SPARROW of the season and a large contingent of a BLACKBIRD blend. The first NORTHERN SHRIKE Doreen has had in her yard this season was attracted to the activity.

* Gabriel Gallant also had a return of approximately 50 SNOW BUNTINGS to his Saint Marie de Kent feeder yard that had not been attending recently. 5 REDPOLLS also visited along with his first SONG SPARROW. AMERICAN GOLDFINCH also came back in significant numbers.

* New member, Ethel Douglas, is yet another to enjoy a visit from a large flock of WAXWINGS to roost in a pine tree outside their Royal Oaks condominium on Saturday.

* Brian Stone shares some more photos from the Nature Moncton field trip to Hampton and Saint John area on March 13 to include some of the the many SCAUP along Norton Shore Rd. Most were suspected to be GREATER SCAUP and one of Brian's photos shows the upheld wing of one bird to show both primary and secondary wing feathers to be white on the trailing edge whereas only the secondaries are white in the LESSER SCAUP.

Also shown is a cavity in a rock face with bird white-wash below it to show a bird has perched or nested in it.

Also included are ICELAND GULLS, a male BARROW'S GOLDENEYE and GADWALL ducks.

* Again a reminder of the Owl prowl and workshop scheduled for Thursday evening is postponed to the alternate date of Monday, March 28. and that date on hold as well depending upon weather conditions. There was a good number of participants registered for this event so make sure to keep a watch for announcements for rescheduling.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier