Nature Moncton Nature News: May 15 2017

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, May 15, 2017 (Monday)

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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)

** Gabriel Gallant leaves a nice report from his Sainte-Marie site. Most expected spring arrivals are present, but the highlight of Sunday were a male BOBOLINK [Goglu des prés] and a GRAY CATBIRD [Moqueur chat]; the catbird was heard only. During the past weeks, Gabriel had flushed a small group of shorebirds while walking through his flooded farm field. He was not certain of the species until last weekend. He heard one make a flush call, and they were WILSON'S SNIPE [Bécassine de Wilson]. There was a loose group of 5 or 6 hanging around and then last Sunday he was finally able to spot one that was hunkered down to avoid detection. It blended so well with its surroundings. Gabriel attaches photos and they sure demonstrate the effective chamophlage of this species.

Gabriel has 3 KILLDEER [Pluvier kildir] around; they spend their time between his front lawn, back yard, and field. The attached photo was taken right from his window. A RED-TAILED HAWK [Buse à queue rousse] makes regular visits to scan his field for some breakfast. He usually sees it perched on the highest tree overlooking his yard field during early mornings when he’s home. Both TREE SWALLOWS [Hirondelle bicolore] and BARN SWALLOWS [Hirondelle rustique] nest in his yard. A pair of each species are busy setting up their nesting season.

Night sounds include SPRING PEEPERS [Rainette crucifère], WOOD FROGS [Grenouille des bois] and AMERICAN TOADS [Crapaud d’Amérique], and an occasional call from a BARRED OWL [Chouette rayée].

** Dave Christie saw the male INDIGO BUNTING [Passerin indigo] in his Mary's Point yard again on Sunday morning for a brief period only. Its short stay may have had something to do with the 10 to 20 BLUE JAYS [Geai bleu] that boisterously commandeered the feeder yard all day Sunday. Dave heard some warblers he had noted previously, BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER [Paruline à gorge noire] and NORTHERN PARULA [Paruline à collier]. He noted SKUNK CURRANT [Gadellier glanduleux] along the trail from the interpretive centre to the beach.

** Xue Li attended the warbler field trip, lead by Mike Plourde and Dwayne Biggar in the Hillsborough area on Sunday. She saw lots of YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS [Paruline à croupion jaune], PALM WARBLERS [Paruline à couronne rousse], AMERICAN REDSTART [Paruline flamboyante], and a WILSON'S WARBLER [Paruline à calotte noire], a KILLDEER [Pluvier kildir] and a BARN SWALLOW [Hirondelle rustique].

Also, a correction to yesterday’s edition, it was the Petitcodiac Riverfront Trail in Riverview that she and Jan Tingley birded not the Petitcodiac Waterfowl Trail in Petitcodiac.

** Louise Richard found FALSE MOREL [Fausse Morille] mushrooms emerging near their Acadieville cabin on Sunday. This was the same date that Louise first found them last year as well. This mushroom is not suggested as an edible mushroom unless cooked in a certain way, so best left. She also saw a SPOTTED SANDPIPER [Chevalier grivelé] teetering on a rock in the nearby river.

** Walter MacLean reports that he came across six NORTHERN GANNET [Fou de Bassan] carcasses over approximately a half mile of the Bouctouche Dune on Saturday. They were all in about the same state of decay to suggest they all probably died about the same time. This seems to happen at this time of year along the coastline, but Walter’s observation seems a lot over a short distance.

** Pat and I visited Hay Island on Sunday. It was cold and clouded over, but SAVANNAH SPARROWS [Bruant des prés] were abundant. No NELSON'S SPARROW [Bruant de Nelson] were heard; they should be arriving soon. WILLETS [Chevalier semipalmé] were there but not vocalizing so I’m assuming no nests to guard yet. RED MAPLES [Érable rouge] were in full bloom, WHITE BIRCH [Bouleau blanc] catkins were swelling and likely near shedding pollen.

A very large aggregation of DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS [Cormoran à aigrettes] were assembled together on the main Southwest Miramichi River near and on a small unnamed island at Douglastown. I wondered why there were so many there. Was it a migration stop or was there possibly a SMELT [Éperlan d'Amérique] run? They did not seem to be feeding. A photo shows a large group on the island close up and a view of the island. Another photo shows cormorants nearby on the water, and a close-up photo of some of them.

Nature Moncton meeting tomorrow night, Tuesday repeated below

Bees . . . in this place
May 16, 2017
John Klymko
Nature Moncton Meeting
Mapleton Park Rotary Lodge at 7:00 p.m.

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.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton