Nature Moncton Nature News: March 22 2018

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, March 22, 2018 ( 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)

** The next Nature Moncton event is coming up this Saturday afternoon with the Swallow Box workshop. Fred Richards has the boxes all ready for distribution and Louise Nichols has the list of landlords that have them reserved to pick up on Saturday. There will be free packets of diatomaceous earth to place into the boxes and other instructions will be given to help reduce flea load which is an addition to this year's program. All are welcome to this workshop whether you have houses reserved or not as there will be lots of information given on Swallows and Swallow box care. The write up is attached.

Nature Moncton Tree Swallow Nest Box Project Workshop

March 24, 2018 from 1:00 to 4:00 pm

Tankville School at 1665 Elmwood Drive

Cost: $8.00

Come learn about swallows in our province, pick up your nest boxes, learn about placement and maintenance of the boxes as well as how they are built.

Presenters: Roger Leblanc and Fred Richards

After an excellent success last year, Nature Moncton’s Activities Committee is pursuing again this year a long-term Tree Swallow Nest Box Project that we hope will be enthusiastically embraced. Note also that these nest boxes can potentially be taken up by other species such as Eastern Bluebirds and Black-capped Chickadees. Once again, one of our members, Fred Richards, has volunteered to build and assemble 49 very solid and well-made nest boxes with an expected lifespan of 15 years. The 50th will be assembled at the end of the Nest Box Project Workshop to show participants the plans and how to build more should they wish. The workshop, led by Roger Leblanc and Fred Richards, will provide knowledge on the expected swallows in NB as well as share information on where best to erect the boxes for maximum effect and how to maintain them. The boxes are offered free of charge to paid-up Nature Moncton members (only a few boxes remain to be reserved). Each numbered box will be stamped with the Nature Moncton logo. We are asking that the volunteers who have adopted the boxes be willing to place them and maintain them each year as well as keep records of nesting results (a form will be provided).

Parasites in the form of fleas are an unavoidable burden to bird nest boxes, especially to nestlings. This can easily be avoided or considerably reduced by adding a tablespoon of diatomaceous earth to the nest box at spring clean out combined with a shot of 0.05% permethrin spray to remove any fleas that have overwintered. A small packet of diatomaceous earth will be given with each nest box and information on the spray which can be purchased at most pet stores. Nelson Poirier will give instructions to those who wish to use these aids.

Everyone is welcome to attend the March 24, 2018 workshop whether or not you will be (or are) an active participant in the project. Those who already have their own boxes and are interested in learning new ideas or those who are just curious to know more about swallows and their nesting habits are also welcome to attend, Nature Moncton member or not.

** Roger Leblanc paid a visit to the Saint Thomas wharf to check on sea duck movement since last Saturday's workshop and notes that it has really started to pick up and he expects that once the forecast of bad weather has passed that things could become quite active. Roger saw flocks of BLACK SCOTERS [Macreuse noire] and COMMON EIDERS [Eider à duvet] and heard them vocalizing. He also saw groups of GREATER SCAUP [Fuligule milouinan], COMMON MERGANSERS [Grand Harle], RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS [Harle huppé], and GOLDENEYE DUCKS moving about. Roger suggests that things are starting to pick up and there are signs of birds starting to move so the weeks to come could be a good time to be out watching for the spring show.

** Roger Leblanc, coordinator of the Moncton Christmas Bird Count, has done an incredible job of compiling the results of the 2017 Moncton Christmas Bird Count. It is to go to the Nature Moncton website, but our webmaster is recovering from illness at the moment and so it will be delayed. I will advise when it is posted there for more broad consumption.

** Aldo Dorio is getting photos of WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS [Bec-croisé bifascié] and PINE SISKINS [Tarin des pins] on road areas in Neguac with similarities to what Brian Stone and I noted on the Renous Highway. Aldo only saw a few crossbills but several Pine Siskins.

** Brian Stone and I continued our winter adventure of the Renous Highway, Route 108, in mid winter as we returned on Wednesday. It has to be one of New Brunswick's special areas for nature. Some things continued much as they did on Tuesday. A significant number of BOREAL CHICKADEES [Mésange à tête brune] were again seen and it was noted that they were almost always in twos, to suggest pairs. GRAY JAYS [Mésangeai du Canada] continued to check us out and the many WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS [Bec-croisé bifascié] and PINE SISKINS [Tarin des pins ] were on the road's surface. The White-winged Crossbill nests any time of the year when food is abundant. One bird caught our eye that we suspected to be a young of the year, possibly fledged recently, indicated by the extent of streaking on the breast in the photo.

We gave Woodpeckers more attention on Wednesday to note that DOWNY WOODPECKERS [Pic mineur] outnumbered HAIRY WOODPECKERS [Pic chevelu] by a very significant margin. We suspected seeing a Marten cross the road at one point after immediately checking it's trail in the snow, but it was far too fast for any photographic proof. Several WHITE-TAILED DEER [Cerf de Virginie] were seen. There is a very heavy snow load in that area this winter which has to be hard on White-tailed Deer, however they appeared in good flesh but sometimes walking very carefully on the snow crust which was barely supporting them. I am assuming that the fact the snow arrived later in the winter allowed them to build up good body condition before it hit hard.
It was also very entertaining to watch a group of SNOW BUNTINGS [Bruant des neiges] find a melt pool in which they were bathing with gleeful gusto. A very noticeable SOLAR HALO appeared as we neared home to suggest that we had chosen the right days for this winter adventure.