Nature Moncton Nature News: May 14 2017

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, May 14, 2017 (Sunday)

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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)

** The May meeting of Nature Moncton is coming up this Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Mapleton Rotary Lodge, across from Cabela’s. Special guest will be John Klymko from the Conservation Data Centre in Sackville. He will give a presentation on bees in New Brunswick, a very timely topic. The write-up is appended below.

Bees . . . in this place
May 16, 2017
John Klymko
Nature Moncton Meeting
Mapleton Park Rotary Lodge

John Klymko, a zoologist with the Atlantic Canada Conservation Data Centre in Sackville, will give an overview of bee diversity and biology. He will discuss what is known about the bees in New Brunswick (there’s still a lot to learn!) and introduce the five bee species known to be at risk in the Maritimes.

** Many thanks to Melissa Fulton from Nature New Brunswick for bringing her workshop on birds, bees and butterflies in the yard to Nature Moncton participants on Saturday afternoon. Ten people took part, not only to get good advice on how to help populations of birds, butterflies and bees by attracting them to their yards, but each participant was able to construct a bird house, nesting platform or bee house to take home. It was a lively group that had many questions and comments to share, and much was learned by all. Brian Stone got some nice action shots of the participants.

** Dave Christie had a pleasant surprise when a male INDIGO BUNTING [Passerin indigo] came to his Mary's Point yard to feed heavily with WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS [Bruant à gorge blanche] on Saturday evening. It was a first-summer male as it had some brown in its wings and white undertail coverts but still lots of brilliant blue plumage.

On an afternoon walk, Dave spotted two CAPE MAY WARBLERS [Paruline tigrée], one of which was singing, and a male BLACKPOLL WARBLER [Paruline rayée] that he normally expects to see a bit later in the spring. Dave also noticed a SMOOTH SERVICEBERRY (Amelanchier laevis) [Petite poires] tree coming into bloom.

Both John Inman and Dave had RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRDS [Colibri à gorge rubis] re-appear after the drought they had since the sudden invasion on May 3. Dave reports that John had a male BOBOLINK [Goglu des prés] drop by his 225 Mary's Point Road yard on Saturday, as well as a YELLOW WARBLER [Paruline jaune] that was flitting about in a Forsythia bush.

** Xue Li and Jan Tingley visited the Petitcodiac Waterfowl Trail that Catherine Hamilton introduced the group to with her photos from there. They saw some LEAST SANDPIPERS [Bécasseau minuscule], 4 GREAT BLUE HERONS [Grand Héron], NORTHERN SHOVELER [Canard souchet] ducks, AMERICAN BLACK DUCKS [Canard noir], GREEN-WINGED TEAL [Sarcelle d'hiver] and lots of TREE SWALLOWS [Hirondelle bicolore], and one BANK SWALLOW [Hirondelle de rivage]. Note the very pale legs of the Least Sandpiper in contrast to the dark legs that a Semipalmated Sandpiper [Bécasseau semipalmé] would have.

** Clarence Cormier reports on second week of May action at his Grande-Digue site. the AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS [Bruant hudsonien] have all departed, but WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS [Bruant à couronne blanche] are now up to two. Two PINE SISKINS [Tarin des pins] have come by to feed on nyjer seed. He now has a pair of ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAKS [Cardinal à poitrine rose], and one male EVENING GROSBEAK [Gros-bec errant] dropped by, as well as his first male RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD [Colibri à gorge rubis] on May 12, which is on schedule from his notes. He has also seen a BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER [Paruline noir et blanc] and YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS [Paruline à croupion jaune] and is enjoying the song of two HERMIT THRUSHES [Grive solitaire] near his yard.

** Louise Nichols spotted a female YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER [Paruline à croupion jaune] on her Sackville deck, pulling straw from plants on a plant box, obviously with nest construction in mind. She got a nice photo of this behaviour. Louise also noted a pair of NORTHERN FLICKERS [Pic flamboyant] around the same tree cavity that a pair used last year. She wonders if it may not be the same pair. It appeared to be an exploratory mission.

** Louise Richard had two RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRDS [Colibri à gorge rubis] arrive at their Acadieville cabin on Saturday, as well as a YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER [Pic maculé].

** Brian Stone and Danny Sullivan went to check the area of the GREAT HORNED OWL [Grand-duc d'Amérique] nest at the Irishtown Nature Park, before the workshop on Saturday. They comment that it’s not hard to locate the general area as the AMERICAN CROWS [Corneille d'Amérique] are still harassing the owls. Hopefully, the crow’s effort is not being successful, as one of the owls was about for photos and obviously getting used to the well-traveled area. They were able to find a lot of pellets on the ground that had been washed by the rain, so it appears that the local area is supplying ample foraging opportunities. Brian also noted a SERVICEBERRY {Petites poires] shrub in full bloom, and a SPRING AZURE [Azur printanier] butterfly.

** The HEPATICA [Hépatique d’Amérique] plants at a cedar swamp area at Halcomb were in bloom on Saturday. This is not a common spring plant in New Brunswick but seems to be in good numbers at this site each year.

Also, earlier in the week, HOUSE FINCHES [Roselin familier] seemed to be feeding heavily at our Moncton feeder and I suspect that they are into nest construction somewhere nearby.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton