Nature Moncton Nature News: Nov 16 2016

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE - November 16, 2016 (Wednesday)

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Edited by : Nelson Poirier nelson@nb.sympatico.ca n
Transcript by : Catherine Johnson johnson2@xplornet.com
Info Line # : 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)

**A very special thank you to Stephen Clayden for coming to Nature Moncton on Tuesday evening to leave a full house with an appreciation of the Acadian forest we live in. Many things were noted but a particular interest was that the worldwide distribution of the red spruce being limited to our area and its surroundings and the red pine not much more. Two trees we will appreciate just a bit more. Steven also explained why certain trees are common in certain parts of NB and uncommon in other areas and why. A very informative presentation.

**Judy Marsh is finding her yard RING-NECKED PHEASANT visitors have taken to creating excavations in her flowerbeds she has not noted previously. The photo of the excavations seem to suggest they are using the soil as dust baths verses foraging for food. Judy has not had them do this before and comments they are wearing out their normally very much welcome mat they've always had with their activity.

**Ron Arsenault shares an excellent website to refer to when finding feathers from birds that help in identification. It was very helpful in identifying the GREAT HORNED OWL feathers mentioned in yesterday's addition and a site many may want to save to use as reference when the occasion arises. Check it out at https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/feather.php?Bird=GHOW_primary_dark

**Doreen Rossiter reports she was very pleased to see a BROWN CREEPER arrive to her Alma yard on Tuesday to watch its characteristic behaviour of spiralling up one tree, gleaning for insects, to hop to a second tree to repeat the show. This is only the second time Doreen has had a yard visit from this special little bird.

**Jamie Burris got a photo of a frog that was crossing the road in Hillsborough which is assumed to be a LEOPARD FROG which had some features of the less common PICKEREL FROG as well. Amphibian guru John Gilhen points out he believes it to be a leopard frog alright due to the predominance of round spotting versus square rectangular spots and the lighter borders to the spots. Most leopard frogs are green, however some can show brown as this specimen does. John also points out that some hybridization has been found between these two species that may be at play in this case as well.

**A few of Jamie Burris's photos from a visit to the Hillsborough wetland park got left off yesterday's message where a BALD EAGLE was mentioned, a NORTHERN PINTAIL activity and mice escaping the high Fundy tides. These photos that ended up in a wrong folder are added today.

Danny Sullivan, Brian Stone and I made a run to Tantramar Marsh and Sackville Waterfowl Park on Tuesday to be wowed by the raptor activity on the Tantramar. As many have been reporting, the RED-TAILED HAWK numbers this year in the area would seem unusually high. We noted most of the approximately 12 we saw were immature birds and suspect that being immature and less experienced were much more tolerant to be observed and photographed as they went about their day. NORTHERN HARRIERS also seemed to be continuing in very significant numbers with no indication of migration at this point. ROUGH -LEGGED hawks were harder to zero in on but one light morph bird did put on a great show while a second dark morph ROUGH-LEGGED hawk did give some nice observations but was much less cooperative to provide photos.

A flock of approximately 50 HORNED LARKS were quite interested in a manure pile on the marsh.

The two DOWITCHERS continue their stay on a small island patch of the Sackville Waterfowl Park being very suspected to be LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS at this late date, however they would not give any vocalization to prove them as LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS and not abnormally late SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS. They surely seem content to stay in that one spot to forage seeing no reason to go anywhere else.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton