Nature Moncton Nature News: Jan 29 2017

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, January 29, 2017 ( Sunday )

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

Transcript by: Brian Stone bjpstone@gmail.com

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

** On Wednesday, after the storm, Gabriel Gallant spotted a flock of a dozen COMMON REDPOLLS [Sizerin flammé] working hard to try and feed on the catkins of a birch tree heavily laden with ice. He couldn't help but wonder why they wouldn't just fly a half of a kilometer down the road to his well stocked feeder yard. Gabriel comments that it is the first Redpoll that he has seen this Winter and none have been to his feeder yard as yet.

** After the storm on Wednesday Brian Coyle was noting the clear paths of Voles and/or Shrews easily seen under the ice surface outside his Lower Mountain Rd. home. He could see them running along their tunnels as black, elongated blobs. They seemed to be trapped underneath the crust at that moment but noted that they had holes chewed through at strategic points the next day. That day was also a first for me to actually see the rodents motoring along their tunnels when checking for the Townsend's Solitaire at Brittany Crossman's yard.

** Louise Nichols continues to see visits from a BARRED OWL [Chouette rayée] to her feeder yard in Sackville. Just after the attached photo Louise took in poor light it dove down to the ground after something just beside their deck and then flew off to the woods. Louise didn't see it get its prey, but it appeared that it spotted and went after something of interest.

** It is that time of year to watch for seals on the ice. Annegret Lamure shares some photos of a seal that she saw on the ice of the Petitcodiac River from her home in Petitcodiac on February 10, 2014. Laurie Murison and Don McAlpine reviewed the pictures and agree that it is a juvenile HARP SEAL, probably about two years of age. They point out that the pelage pattern is very typically Harp Seal including the random, relatively few, spots combined with the blueish counter shading on the dorsum. Harbor Seals do vary a lot in pelage pattern but generally have a lot more spotting and tend to be more brownish rather than blueish on the back and sides.

The Harp Seal does have a somewhat longer and narrower rostrum than the Harbor Seal, but it doesn't show well in profile shots of the animals. Don comments that good images of juveniles are actually not that common, even on line. Don also comments that this is an interesting extralimital record and will be added to the New Brunswick Museum files. Laurie also commented that she suspects that they sometimes think they are trying to get back to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. She points out that when ice seals get lost they really get lost, with one extreme example of a Hooded Seal ending up in the Caribbean.

** The Gull Workshop field outing went well with an excellent group of enthusiastic participants on Saturday afternoon under sunny skies with a cool wind. As expected there surely were a lot of gulls to peruse and see the different plumages of. Mainly GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULLS [Goéland marin], HERRING GULLS [Goéland argenté] and ICELAND GULLS [Goéland arctique]. However, one adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL [Goéland brun] was caught by some of the group and a few stragglers did see one GLAUCOUS GULL [Goéland bourgmestre] in flight after most had left.

All appreciation to the staff of the waste management site who provided an excellent room in the education center and a security person with us when outside. Many photos were taken and some are attached to show different plumage phases. Note one of Brian Stone's of the adult ICELAND GULL [Goéland arctique] with gray in the primary projection. It is usually much less pronounced than this, if gray is seen at all.

Mitch Doucet got some excellent photos of a GLAUCOUS GULL [Goéland bourgmestre] in flight beside the only three inch larger GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL [Goéland marin] to give an excellent comparison.

Many BALD EAGLES [Pygargue à tête blanche] also got into the action and some are added. Note the unexpected white chest of one to show the variation that can occur in the Bald Eagle sub adult plumage.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton