Nature Moncton Nature News: May 1 2016

** The BLACK-THROATED SPARROW [Bruant à gorge noir] continued to delight visitors to the Beaubassin Research Station at Aulac . Saturday was an opportunity for folks from farther away to come for an audience. Angela Granchelli and Diane LeBlanc from Halifax made the pilgrimage to successfully see the sparrow, and Angela shares her personal photo of it. Angela travels into New Brunswick frequently on her job, so we may see some more of her photography in the future.

** Dave Christie reports a similar situation to what is happening in our Moncton yard. One rufous-capped sparrow species is being replaced by another. On Saturday morning, only one of what had been two AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS [Bruant hudsonien] was in Dave’s feeder area at Mary's Point, and a CHIPPING SPARROW [Bruant familier] appeared in the afternoon for a first visit.

Dave reports that a CANADA GOOSE [Bernache du Canada] nest is very conspicuous on a muskrat lodge at the Lars Larsen Marsh just across the body of water beside the road. Sometimes the incubating adult may tuck in its head and be well camouflaged, at other times it is very visible.

Dave checked Mary's Point to note any changes in the past six days in the TROUT-LILY [Ail doux] and SPRING-BEAUTY [Claytonie de Caroline] numbers in the mixed woods there. Trout-Lilies had changed little, still with no flowers, but the Spring-beauty patch had swelled noticeably. The male BELTED KINGFISHER [Martin-pêcheur d'Amérique] he saw there last week had a mate.

** Brian Stone visited the Caissie Cape area on Saturday to find BLACK SCOTERS [Macreuse noire] very much still present. There appeared to be more females in the flock at the moment. A RING-BILLED GULL [Goéland à bec cerclé] posed, as well as two first-winter ICELAND GULLS [Goéland arctique]. I assume that the non-breeding Iceland Gulls are in less of a rush to file flight plans north. As usual Brian spotted a solar halo that most of us seem not to notice.

** Clarence Cormier continues to have a nice bird diversity around his Grand-Digue site, including PILEATED WOODPECKER [Grand pic], DARK-EYED JUNCO [Junco ardoisé], a female BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD [Vacher à tête brune], RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS [Roitelet à couronne rubis], WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS [Bruant à gorge blanche], SAVANNAH SPARROWS [Bruant des prés], 4 WILSON'S SNIPE [Bécassine de Wilson], lots of PURPLE FINCH [Roselin pourpré], AMERICAN GOLDFINCH, blackbirds and SONG SPARROWS [Bruant chanteur], and approximately ten AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS [Bruant hudsonien] still present.

** I am sensing the changing of the guard in my Moncton feeder yard. The AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS [Bruant hudsonien] are less in number. On Saturday the first CHIPPING SPARROW [Bruant familier] arrived, along with our first SAVANNAH SPARROW [Bruant des prés], and WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS [Bruant à gorge blanche] have been around for a few days. The WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW [Bruant à couronne blanche] that overwintered with us is looking more handsome each day now. CEDAR WAXWINGS [Jaseur d'Amérique] continue to devour cull apples with gusto. One of them decided that the water supply dish is good for bathing as well as drinking, and it was not long before several others copied the idea, bathing with great enthusiasm, as well as drinking.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

David Christie,

Mary's Point, NB, Canada