NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, December
29, 2016 ( Thursday )
Please advise editor at nelson@nb.sympatico.ca if any errors are noted in
wording or photo labelling.
Edited by : Nelson Poirier nelson@nb.sympatico.ca
Transcript by: Brian Stone bjpstone@gmail.com
Info Line # 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)
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** Louise Nichols checked out the Cap Brule lagoon on Wednesday and
appreciated the excellent viewing platform erected there. There were
approximately thirty to forty BARROW'S GOLDENEYES [Garrot
d'Islande] there which lifted off when she went on the platform but soon came
right back to settle in for some photos. Louise's photo appears to show two of
the females showing that they may be in their first winter as their bills are
not completely orange.
There was a group of mostly ICELAND GULLS [Goéland arctique] and one GLAUCOUS GULL [Goéland bourgmestre]. She was able to get a photo of a Glaucous Gull beside an Iceland Gull and another of the Glaucous Gull among Iceland Gulls along with a third winter GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL [Goéland marin]. Another photo shows an adult RING-BILLED GULL [Goéland à bec cerclé] beside a first winter Iceland Gull. The majority of the Ring-billed Gulls tend to move southerly for the winter but it appears that more may be staying to overwinter in recent years. I have noted a good number of Ring-billed Gulls overwintering in parts of Nova Scotia where the temperature tends to be more moderate.
There was a group of mostly ICELAND GULLS [Goéland arctique] and one GLAUCOUS GULL [Goéland bourgmestre]. She was able to get a photo of a Glaucous Gull beside an Iceland Gull and another of the Glaucous Gull among Iceland Gulls along with a third winter GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL [Goéland marin]. Another photo shows an adult RING-BILLED GULL [Goéland à bec cerclé] beside a first winter Iceland Gull. The majority of the Ring-billed Gulls tend to move southerly for the winter but it appears that more may be staying to overwinter in recent years. I have noted a good number of Ring-billed Gulls overwintering in parts of Nova Scotia where the temperature tends to be more moderate.
** There seems to be few feeder reports recently so I will add comments
from our own urban Moncton feeder. We have mostly the regularly expected
patrons. The AMERICAN GOLDFINCH [Chardonneret jaune] have decreased from their
recent high numbers and I am wondering about the effect of the neighborhood
female MERLIN [Faucon émerillon]. Several HOUSE FINCH
[Roselin familier] are regular, however the feeder area is dripping with
AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS [Bruant hudsonien] and one SONG SPARROW [Bruant
chanteur]. The sparrows have lots of ground white millet but seem to have
adapted their favorite menu to sunflower chips and are now constantly sampling
suet mixes prepared from recipes recommended by Jim Wilson and Roy LaPointe.
Nelson Poirier,
Nature
Moncton
BARROW'S GOLDENEYE. LOUISE NICHOLS. DEC. 28, 2016
GLAUCOUS GULL (BACK) AND ICELAND GULL (FRONT) (a). LOUISE NICHOLS. DEC. 28, 2016
GLAUCOUS GULL (BACK) AND ICELAND GULL (FRONT) (b). LOUISE NICHOLS. DEC. 28, 2016
GLAUCOUS GULL AMONG ICELAND GULLS WITH GREAT BLACK-BACKED (2ND WINTER). LOUISE NICHOLS. DEC. 28, 2016
RING-BILLED GULL (FRONT) AND 1ST WINTER ICELAND GULL (BACK). LOUISE NICHOLS. DEC. 28, 2016
