Nature Moncton Nature News: March 16 2017

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, March 16, 2017 ( Thursday )

To respond by e-mail, please address your message to the information line editor, nelson@nb.sympatico.ca . Please advise if any errors are noted in wording or photo labeling.

For more information on Nature Moncton, check the website at www.naturemoncton.com .

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

Transcript by: Brian Stone bjpstone@gmail.com

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

** Clarence Cormier has a resident SHORT-TAILED WEASEL [Belette à courte queue] that he often sees popping in and out of its snow holes around his Grande Digue home. He was finally able to get a quick photo of it, commenting that it is always in a rush and on a mission. Clarence also got a photo of a SHREW [Musaraigne] that he noticed around his bird feeders. The weasel may well be interested in the shrew/vole population that would be attracted to the bird feeders.

** Stella Leblanc has noted a EUROPEAN STARLING [Étourneau sansonnet] about their Bouctouche yard over the winter with a very long, overgrown beak. She got a photo of it on Wednesday. Stella calls it her “Pinocchio bird”.

** Anna Tucker visited the BALD EAGLE [Pygargue à tête blanche] nest at the Crowley Farm Rd. on Tuesday to find an adult, assumedly the female, very deep in the bowl of the nest. The nest looks like it has had some fresh building material recently added.

** The Nature Moncton nest box workshop is now just a few days away and will happen this Saturday, March 18, with the write up added below. Fred Richards has all 49 boxes ready to go to the folks that have reserved them. The stamp has just arrived and Fred will have all the boxes stamped with the Nature Moncton logo and they will be numbered.

Nature Moncton Nest Box Workshop

March 18, 2017 1:00 – 4:00 P.M.

Tankville School, 1665 Elmwood Drive

Swallow Box Erection, Placement, and Maintenance

Presenters: Fred Richards and Roger LeBlanc

Swallow Nest Box Project

The Nature Moncton Activities Committee is launching a long-term nest box project which we hope will be enthusiastically embraced for the duration.

The nest boxes can also potentially be used by Eastern Bluebirds and Black-capped Chickadees.

Our member, Fred Richards, has volunteered to cut-out and assemble 49/50 very solid and well-made nest boxes with an expected life-span of 15 years. The 50^th one will be assembled at the Nest Box Project Workshop on March 18, 2017. The workshop, led by Fred Richards and Roger Leblanc, will provide all the knowledge needed on where best to erect the boxes for maximum effect and how to maintain them. The aim of assembling the last one at the workshop is to show participants the plans and how to build more should they wish.

The first 50 will be free of charge to paid-up Nature Moncton members. This wonderful project can be offered thanks to Fred volunteering his time to build them and Louise Richard who obtained a grant from the Imperial Oil Volunteer Involvement Program which will fund the building materials. Each numbered box will be stamped with the Nature Moncton logo.

We are asking for volunteers who will adopt the boxes and be willing to place them and maintain them each year. If interested in joining the project, please respond to this email with your name, contact email address, telephone number, and the number of nest boxes you feel you can place and maintain.

Everyone is welcome to attend the March 18, 2017 workshop whether or not you will be an active participant in the project, be a perspective swallow landlord, or are an existing landlord interesting in learning new ideas.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton