Nature Moncton Nature News: Jan 14 2017

NATURE MONCTON’S INFORMATION LINE – January 14, 2017 (Saturday)

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

Transcript by: Catherine Clements

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**Ray Gauvin got a photo of the near-full Moon on Friday night through an upstairs window, commenting it was just too cold to be roaming outside at Parlee Beach. Ray comments his feeders were slow until noon on Friday, when suddenly three PINE WARBLERS [Paruline des pins] appeared, followed by a good flock of AMERICAN GOLDFINCH [Chardonneret jaune], RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH [Sittelle à poitrine rousse], and two WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH [Sittelle à poitrine blanche].

**A lone CANADA GOOSE [Bernache du Canada] has been around the Bouctouche Lagoon for the past two weeks now. It does not appear to be injured, and seems quite content in the area. Jean-Paul LeBlanc photographed it on Friday.

**Brian Stone and I spent Friday bird-sleuthing, starting at Mapleton Park to check for the WOOD DUCKS [Canard branchu] and NORTHERN PINTAIL [Canard pilet] Jamie Burris had found there. The female Wood Duck was present and vocalizing loudly. The male Wood Duck was not there at the time, and there was no sign of the Pintail. On to Sackville for a straight drive through Tantramar Marsh, to note the expected ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK [Buse pattue] and RED-TAILED HAWK [Buse à queue rousse] activity. The snow is almost completely gone on the marsh, and with low temperatures arriving should make travelling marsh roads excellent. We watched a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk enjoy its VOLE [Campagnol] meal, and at the same time could see several Voles running about the sides of the ditch, to indicate the abundance of prey that’s available there. On into Nova Scotia to the Bass River area to see a RED-HEADED WOODPECKER [Pic à tête rouge] that has been at a house there for some time. It’s a young-of-the-year bird, and is now starting to moult, to note red patches emerging on the neck and head area. On to Lower Sackville, NS, where we were very fortunate to find a CLAY-COLORED SPARROW [Bruant des plaines] at a feeder; it has been around for a while now. Photos had to be documentary, as light was fading on us.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton