Nature Moncton Nature News: Feb 9, 2017

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, February 09, 2017 ( Thursday )

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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)

** Clarence Cormier shares some photos of his resident, juvenile NORTHERN GOSHAWK [Autour des palombes] that keeps a close watch on his Grand Digue feeder yard. One photo shows the tail pattern nicely of the juvenile Northern Goshawk, as well as the white undertail coverts in another photo which both adult and juvenile have. A third photo shows the vertical striping on the breast area of the juvenile Northern Goshawk.

Clarence also has a NORTHERN SHRIKE [Pie-grièche grise] checking his site quite regularly. Clarence comments that it doesn't seem to trouble the Black-capped Chickadees, but the American Tree Sparrows are on guard.

** Georges Brun comments on the increased boldness of some birds with the days lengthening and the bright sun. He notes that some of the cock RING-NECKED PHEASANTS [Faisan de Colchide] he is coming across seem to be less wary of people. I have noted the cock Ring-necked Pheasants in sparring matches especially on the Tantramar Marsh where they are so plentiful where I assume there is more need there to establish hierarchy.

** Brian and Annette Stone and Danny Sullivan came across a complex of beaver dams and lodges in woods in Notre Dame, the size of which they had not encountered before. Seven dams were counted, and five ponds in all, of what they could see. Two dams were very large, and the others smaller. One pond seemed very large, and the other ponds below it were in decreasing size. There was one lodge in the largest pond, and another lodge in one of the smaller ponds that was built around a big tree that can be seen protruding from the top. This lodge had a lot of newly chewed wood around it to make it appear to be the newest one. They have never seen a beaver area quite so large.

Brian also photographed a residual bird's nest of summer that appears to be that of a Cedar Waxwing, and also the pupal case of an insect that appears to have been parisitized.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton