**It would appear like
the past few days have been the most active of the year for many bird feeder
yards that have also caught the attention of RAPTORS [Rapace].
Brian
Coyle had
a NORTHERN GOSHAWK
[Autour des palombes] come by his Lower Mountain Road feeder yard on Friday.6
REDPOLLS [Sizerin] also
appeared for the first time this season, as well as a lone BOHEMIAN WAXWING [Jaseur boréal] that spotted an apple a RED SQUIRREL
[Écureuil
roux]
had cached in a tree branch
and spent a time enjoying the booty.
**A PEREGRINE
FALCON [Faucon pèlerin] has returned to the Riverside-Albert-Harvey
area, being seen by Dave Christie and John Inman on Wednesday and Thursday, and
Shannon Inman saw it in Riverside on Friday. Shannon also saw the first two
TURKEY VULTURES
[Urubu à tête rouge] that Dave has
heard about fly over her home in Riverside on Thursday.
**The freezing
rain on Friday brought very high numbers of FINCHES
[Fringillidés] and
SPARROWS [Bruant] to Dave’s feeder yard. PINE SISKIN [Tarin des
pins] were the most numerous Finch. There were high numbers of DARK-EYED JUNCO [Junco ardoisé], WHITE-THROATED SPARROW [Bruant à gorge blanche],
AMERICAN TREE SPARROW [Bruant hudsonien], and SONG SPARROWS [Bruant chanteur]; Dave commenting
the ground was covered with feeding birds. A WOOD DUCK [Canard branchu]
was on the Shepody River below the
dam on Wednesday and Thursday, as was a pair of HOODED MERGANSER [Harle
couronné].
**Louise Nichols paid a visit to the Tantramar
Marsh in the rain on Friday afternoon. She was fortunate to come upon a
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK [Buse pattue] that posed cooperatively for a few excellent
photos. Louise scanned a number of large groups of CANADA GEESE [Bernache du Canada]
as was possible in the rain, but did
not see any other GOOSE [Oie]
species. Louise also dropped by the
Sackville Waterfowl Park to find the boardwalks very slippery, but did note a
contingent of mixed GULLS [Goéland]
and a few each of COMMON MERGANSER
[Grand Harle], WOOD DUCK [Canard
branchu], RING-NECKED DUCK [Fuligule
à collier], AMERICAN WIGEON [Canard d'Amérique], GADWALL [Canard chipeau],
and MALLARD [Canard colvert] DUCKS. So things are starting to come to life at
Sackville Waterfowl Park, although the numbers of each species are not high yet,
and the only part of the park that was occupied on Friday was the area between
the boardwalk and the Tourist Information Centre.
Nelson
Poirier
Nature
Moncton
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK (a). LOUISE NICHOLS. MARCH 25, 2016
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK (a). LOUISE NICHOLS. MARCH 25, 2016
