Nature Moncton Nature News: June 7 2016

** John Inman had a first year YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD [Carouge à tête jaune] in his 225 Mary's Point Rd. feeder yard in Harvey on Monday. He also saw it briefly feed under feeders in a neighbor's yard. The Common Grackles were putting the run to it, however it would contentedly mix with Red-winged Blackbirds. Chances are it will stay in the area today, if not longer.

** Northern Mockingbirds seem to be suddenly appearing, or at least being reported. Ralph White saw a NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD [Moqueur polyglotte], loudly vocalizing, at the corner of McAllister and Harvey Rd. in Riverview on Monday afternoon. It was being heard for a few days before that, but Monday afternoon was the first time he had a good observation of it. It happened to be the first Northern Mockingbird Ralph had seen in New Brunswick.

** Charles Prince recently got a photo of a MOOSE showing a large bared patch on the shoulder area. On Sunday Brian Stone and I came across a Moose with a similar scenario that also included the rump area. Photos are attached of both. A query to Dwayne Sabin at the DNR Fish and Wildlife branch gave an excellent commentary that is best attached below as it explains it so well. Thank you Dwayne, and quoting.

“

Moose are shedding this time of year, but it is a gradual process and doesn’t come out on large patches like that.

What you are seeing on this moose is the new, dark summer coat growing out in a large bare patch on the shoulder. That large bare patch was caused by the moose rubbing off its hair this past winter due to winter ticks. Moose with a heavy tick load in mid-winter end up grooming, scratching or rubbing against trees in an attempt to remove the ticks, and can experience extensive hair loss. They typically end up with large patches of hair rubbed off on the shoulders and then the rump. With very extensive tick loads, the resulting rubbing can cause them to lose almost their entire winter coat. Try googling “ghost moose”. This negatively affects moose survival during winter.

Cheers, Dwayne

Charles Prince also shares a photo of a BULLFROG [Ouaouaron]. Note the dorsal line circling down around the small tympanum to identify it as a Bullfrog, and also as a female due to the small tympanum.

** A few more photos added today from Brian Stone and our weekend sleuthing around the Miramichi area to include a POLYPHEMUS MOTH, and a TWIN-SPOTTED SPHINX MOTH that visited the moth light on Saturday night. A MAYFLY, and a group of RED-BELLY SNAKES [Couleuvre à ventre rouge] that were together under a black boot mat. The two colour morphs can be noted, and a shed skin is present near the group. The Red-belly snake is a very gentle snake. A HERRING GULL [Goéland argenté] on its nest at Grande-Anse is also added.

** The Nature Moncton combined Sparrow Workshop and Field Trip outing is drawing near. Scheduled for this coming Saturday, June 11. The complete details are attached below.

Be Happy for Sparrows

Workshop and Field Trip with Roger Leblanc

Saturday June 11, 2016

It’s a fact that when you are starting out in birding there are some groups of birds that are harder than others to wrap your mind or binoculars around. Some beginners don’t even want to talk about flycatchers or gulls. And it’s true that some birds could drive you to get interested in plants! But there is a much easier group of birds that still gives people a lot of problems. The sparrows or LBJs (for “little brown jobs”) are birds that are relatively easy to find, don’t tend to hide that much, show fairly good field marks, and have recognizable songs. But still, identifying them will give most people a hard time at first. Why? Well as the LBJ nickname suggests they don’t have a lot of colors, they are relatively close to each other in size and there are a fair number of species to pick from.

But don’t despair -- help is on the way. Nature Moncton is offering a hands-on workshop on sparrows. Starting with a short one-hour indoor refresher on the sparrows of NB we will then head outdoors to the Riverview Marsh and beyond where we will concentrate on sparrows to try to put in practice what you have learned inside. The objective will be to find in the field as many as we can of the 7 or 8 species that can be found fairly easily in the region at this time of the year. Our own Roger Leblanc will lead this workshop / outing and will share with us the tricks of the trade that he has honed over the years for putting names on the pesky LBJ’S. Things like song, habitat, behavior and head pattern will be pointed out and studied in the hope that the LBJs will become ETCs (easy to call).

And in addition to sparrows, there are always many more other birds, including lots of waterfowl, on the marsh – so we may be surprised by other interesting species!

Saturday June 11, 8:00 to 9:00 (workshop); 9:30 to 12:00 (field)

**Workshop will be held in Community room at the Riverview Sobey’s, 1160 Findlay Blvd., Riverview

Registration with Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca or phone Louise at 939-5054.

Cost of workshop/field trip is $8 payable at the door . All are welcome, Nature Moncton member or not.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca