Nature Moncton Nature News: Jan 4 2017

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE - January 4, 2017 (Wednesday)

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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)

** Mac Wilmot, in Lower Coverdale, has had a new visitor to his feeder yard, a male WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH [Sittelle à poitrine blanche] that has developed a taste for peanuts in the shell.

** Rose-Alma Mallet got a call from a friend, Simone Caissie, about a TURKEY VULTURE [Urubu à tête rouge] close to her home in Grande-Digue on Tuesday. The vulture was seen in the area of Caissie’s Fish Market, around civic number 902 and the fish market. Rose-Alma saw it on Tuesday in a tree near the shoreline.

Another interesting observation on Nature Sud-est’s weekly Thursday outing. Rose-Alma and Carmella Melanson were surprised to see 6 SNOW BUNTINGS [Bruant des neiges] perched in a tree on the Tantramar Marsh. Rose-Alma says that she does not recall seeing Snow Buntings in a tree like that before.

** On Tuesday, Julie Pellerin and Richard Léger made a run that included Shemogue, Anderson Road, Sackville, Dorchester and back to Dieppe to have a good day birding. They were able to find CROSSBILLS [bec-croisé] around the Johnson’s Mill interpretive centre. They searched the area for PURPLE SANDPIPERS [Bécasseau violet] and could not locate them until looking out to sea where they spotted four of them on a floating ice-cake, which was a bit of a surprise. They counted 21 RED-TAILED HAWKS [Buse à queue rousse] along their route, the most that they have ever experienced in one day, 6 BALD EAGLES [Pygargue à tête blanche] and ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS [Buse pattue], as well as 30 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS [Jaseur boréal] in the Memramcook area.

** Jean Renton has been noting a different bird coming to her Stilesville feeder yard, which we were able to successfully photograph through a window on Tuesday morning. It turns out to be the uncommon-to-New-Brunswick FIELD SPARROW [Bruant des champs]. It’s coming to millet seed and tends to be quite skittish and wary. The AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS [Bruant hudsonien] which are noticeably larger (the guides say 3/4 of an inch) seem to bully it a bit, but larger birds don’t seem to bother it. The Field Sparrow’s signature combo of field marks: pink legs and bill, white eye-ring, and wing-bars show nicely, and one photo shows the streaked crown of the head.

The Renton’s feeder yard is dripping with a variety of birds and Nature Moncton's bird-feeding tour is planned to visit there, to be announced soon.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton