Nature Moncton Nature News: April 1 2017

NATURE MONCTON’S INFORMATION LINE – April 1, 2017 (Saturday)

Please advise editor at nelson@nb.sympatico.ca if any errors are noted in wording or photo labelling.

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

Transcript by: Catherine Clements

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

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**While the Nature Sud-Est group were out for their bird outing on Friday, Carmella Melanson got some great photos of a MINK [Vison] that dove for a fish and even posed for a brief photo op. A real photo coup for the always-on-the-move Mink.

**Scott Makepeace and Kevin Craig have been erecting BARRED OWL [Chouette rayée] nest boxes and monitoring them for some years now. Scott comments he checked a box on Thursday night to find one egg on the nest, and on Wednesday night had a female in another nest box. This would indicate Barred Owl nesting is getting under way at the moment in New Brunswick.

**As a follow-up to Beth MacDonald’s recent WHIMBREL [Courlis corlieu] presentation and satellite-following work, Beth advises one of the monitored birds, named “Lamèque”, is now moving north, heading towards Texas. Check the URL http://www.seaturtle.org/tracking/?project_id=1201&dyn=1490222813

**Mitch Doucet was able to get nice observations and photo of the NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD [Moqueur polyglotte] in the area of 27 and 29 Hillcrest Avenue on Friday morning. It has been dropping by that area to fruit trees since December.

**Brian Stone and Danny Sullivan made a birding run along the coast in the Shediac-Cap-Pelé-Saint Thomas area on Friday to capture several nice photo ops. COMMON GOLDENEYES [Garrot à oeil d'or] were at the Marina de la Brèche (a small wharf), a handsome adult BALD EAGLE [Pygargue à tête blanche] on sentry at the Aboujagane River, WIGEONS [Canard d'Amérique] and BARROW'S GOLDENEYE [Garrot d'Islande] and CANADA GEESE [Bernache du Canada] from the Cap Brûlé lagoon look-off. Some PUSSY WILLOW [Saule à chatons] shrubs had opened their buds to expose their white insulation. These are not actually blooming, as they will soon become big yellow blooms to indicate they are male, or green blooms to indicate they are female, all occurring on separate male and female bushes. The male pollen blooms will be very welcome to early emerging pollinators. RUFFED GROUSE [Gélinotte huppée] and SCOTER [Macreuse] and EIDER [Eider] were all at the Saint-Thomas wharf. Note the nice photo of the WHITE-WINGED SCOTER [Macreuse brune] to show the signature white ornamentation around the eye, and the white secondaries on the wing, to separate them from the other two Scoters.

**The group of CEDAR WAXWINGS [Jaseur d'Amérique] has finally found my fruit trays the past four days and they are sure enjoying it for the brief moments they peacefully can. Two male ROBINS [Merle d'Amérique] have joined the previously present female Robins, and are bullying the Waxwings non-stop. There’s lots for both, but the male Robins don’t seem to see it that way.

**Immature/sub-adult BALD EAGLES [Pygargue à tête blanche] can be sometimes hard to be sure what year of development they are in. The attached Bald Eagle photo, taken recently at the Tantramar Marsh, shows the variability in the moult of this species. Dave Christie feels it is nearly two years old, in what is called “Basic I” plumage (aka “White-belly I”), and from now on through the summer will be moulting into “Basic II” plumage. Dave comments a young-of-the-year bird would not have that much white on the belly yet, or as extensive white around the eye. He also comments the eye seems to be getting a bit of colour, to suggest a past young-of-the-year bird.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton