Nature Moncton Nature News: March 27 2016

** The Nature Moncton owl workshop and "Owl Prowl” are now scheduled for Wednesday night, March 30. The hour-long workshop given by Roger LeBlanc, will start at 6 p.m. at the Tankville School, 1665 Elmwood Drive, and the owl prowl will set off after that at approximately 7 p.m., to the search area, where Roger heard three species of owls at two stops last Wednesday night. Owl prowls, as we all know can be hard to schedule, so stay tune in case of any changes. Weather predictions look good at the moment, but it’s a few days away.

** Ron Arsenault was in Moncton on Saturday and again saw a PEREGRINE FALCON [Faucon pèlerin], this time on the west-facing “A” of Assumption Place. While passing Memramcook on the Trans-Canada Highway, Ron also saw a TURKEY VULTURE [Urubu à tête rouge].

Karee Tait got a photo of a PILEATED WOODPECKER [Grand pic] coming to enjoy her Salisbury suet log, right beside the kitchen window. A HAIRY WOODPECKER [Pic chevelu] and DOWNY WOODPECKER [Pic mineur] compete for the same feeder, sometimes two species at the same time. She’s waiting for that special moment when all three arrive at once.

** Clarence Cormier also hasaPILEATED WOODPECKER [Grand pic] foraging around his Grand-Digue home. We used to think of them as deep woods birds. That seems to have modified in recent years.

** Georges Brun got some nice close-ups of a RING-BILLED GULL [Goéland à bec cerclé] that seemed to want to be photographed, so Georges took it up on the offer.

** Brian Stone paid a visit to the Hampton lagoon on Saturday and was rewarded with the BLACK-HEADED GULL [Mouette rieuse] still present and performing. Brian got some in-flight photos, as well as shots with an ICELAND GULL [Goéland arctique] for a size comparison. Also present were several duck species. A nice shot of a pair of COMMON GOLDENEYES [Garrot à oeil d'or] shows the half-orange bill of the breeding plumage female and a SCAUP [Fuligule sp.] pair. At least 7 NORTHERN SHOVELERS [Canard souchet] were present, a few BUFFLEHEAD [Petit Garrot], ICELAND GULLS [Goéland arctique] and RING-BILLED GULLS [Goéland à bec cerclé].

Brian also got some SNOWSHOE HARES [Lièvre d'Amérique] hopping around his yard on Saturday, obviously wishing everyone a “hoppy” Easter. His photos show that the seasonal change to brown pelage is underway.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton