Nature Moncton Nature News: Oct 17 2016

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE - October 17, 2016 (Monday)

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Edited by : Nelson Poirier nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Transcript by : David Christie maryspt@mac.com

Info Line # : 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)

** Tomorrow, Tuesday, Oct. 18, is NATURE MONCTON MEETING NIGHT at the Mapleton Park Rotary Lodge, across from Cabela’s at 7 p.m. The guest presenter will be Jeff Clements, who will have some very up-to-date information on ocean changes that may explain a lot of things happening at the moment. The write-up is attached.

NATURE MONCTON OCTOBER MEETING

Tuesday, October 18 at 7:00 PM

Guest speaker: Jeff Clements, Scientist with the Dept. of Fisheries and Oceans

Place: MAPLETON PARK ROTARY LODGE (across from Cabela’s)

Title: What Happens as the Oceans Become More Acidified?

Commonly known as the “other CO₂ problem”, ocean acidification is a recently-discovered phenomenon by which carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere dissolves into the oceans and lowers seawater pH, causing it to become more acidic. Unfortunately, when CO₂increases and pH drops, ocean-dwelling animals can be affected. Furthermore, on top of ocean acidification, these animals also have to deal with an increasingly warmer ocean and a swath of other environmental changes! This leads to much uncertainty and concern for the future of our oceans in a changing world.

In this talk, Jeff will introduce the topic of ocean acidification by discussing what is and how it works, and will highlight some of the biological, ecological and societal consequences associated with ocean acidification. He will also talk about the current state of ocean acidification research and will wrap up by highlighting some of the work that he has been doing right here at home in the Bay of Fundy.

** David Christie got a few interesting telephone calls on Sunday morning. Doris Hatt had a female EASTERN TOWHEE [Tohi à flancs roux] appear below her feeders at 8537 Main Street in Alma on Saturday afternoon and it was still there Sunday morning. Eastern Towhees often have the habit of staying around a reliable food supply so it may stay in that area; be aware of the skulky nature of this species.

Also, John Inman had a BALTIMORE ORIOLE [Oriole de Baltimore], interested in berries, around his 225 Mary's Point Road yard on the weekend. He also spotted a DICKCISSEL [Dickcissel d'Amérique] on Sunday morning perched above where he places ground feed. It did not go down to the food as a NORTHERN GOSHAWK [Autour des palombes] flew in and put all the birds into the bushes but the bird knows where the food is and will probably return. In some years, John has had excellent turnouts of Dickcissels.

** It’s always amazing how WHITE-TAILED DEER [Cerf de Virginie] can adapt to survive within a city. My daughter Christie lives in downtown Halifax, and as she left for work on the morning of Sept. 30, she spotted several deer on the street in her backup camera. The first photo shows a mature doe with one yearling and two young of the year. One-year-old Deer will often rejoin their mother at this time of year. The action didn’t stop there, as a young buck appeared, following them, very attuned to upcoming mating opportunities.

** Aldo Dorio is continuing to see HORNED LARKS [Alouette hausse-col] foraging in the wrack line at Hay Island, south of Néguac. Aldo also continues to see Merlin [Faucon émerillon] in that area. More Merlins seem to be staying with us for the winter in recent years, or maybe it’s just because they are generally more numerous, recovering on their own from DDT days.

** AMERICAN CROWS [Corneille d'Amérique] are starting to establish winter roosts. Ray Gauvin noted a large group of crows gathering on the east side of the Pointe-du-Chêne bridge on Sunday evening. Ray comments that they just kept coming and coming, reminding him of the famous, old Alfred Hitchcock movie, “The Birds.”

** I’m attaching another series of Brian Stone’s fabulous photos from the Nature Moncton zoo visit on Saturday. Brian has a Dropbox folder of all the files he saved. It can be accessed at the following link

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0wrnrh1wi5ph0kz/AACJvpBGFAOPwvOVJ557JDlOa?dl=0

Note the big difference in plumage between the male and female OSTRICH [Autruche]. Bruce Dougan pointed out that the dominant BARN OWL [Effraie des clochers]] is always the highest, so the one above the rest is the dominant one. He also commented that, in it’s native area, the MARABOU STORK [Marabout d’Afrique] is as common as gulls are to us. A big thanks to Brian for saving so many pleasant memories from last Saturday.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton