Nature Moncton Nature News: April 25 2018

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, April 25, 2018 ( Wednesday )

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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)

** Some interesting action from Paula Lansdale at her near Alma yard. The TREE SWALLOWS [Hirondelle bicolore] arrived for her on Monday as it seems to have happened for so many but on Tuesday she saw some scrapping with each other and saw one with some straw in its mouth. Paula was very pleased to see both YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS [Paruline à croupion jaune] and PALM WARBLERS [Paruline à couronne rousse] arrive to her yard on Tuesday and one other yellow Warbler that she was unable to put a handle on.

** Lois Budd and Ron Steeves did a four hour hawk watch at the New Horton Church on Tuesday. There was a terrific wind that made it a challenge for birders trying to hang on to scopes but it was a great tail wind to allow a nice passage of raptors using the wind to go at full speed and further challenge the hawk watcher's identification skills. They tallied forty three raptors including one RED-TAILED HAWK [Buse à queue rousse], one AMERICAN KESTREL [Crécerelle d'Amérique], three OSPREY [Balbuzard pêcheur], one SHARP-SHINNED HAWK [Épervier brun] and thirty seven others that were mostly identified as, or suspected to be, BROAD-WINGED HAWKS [Petite Buse].
TREE SWALLOWS [Hirondelle bicolore] were investigating swallow boxes around the church, there was a constant flow of NORTHERN FLICKERS [Pic flamboyant], a small flock of a CORMORANT species and COMMON LOONS [Plongeon huard] heading inland. Large flocks of AMERICAN ROBINS [Merle d'Amérique] were noted in fields between Hillsborough and Riverside-Albert.

** Gordon Rattray visited the Harvey area on Tuesday to get a nice stretch of activity and photos all between the Harvey dam and the Interpretive Center at Mary's Point. SAVANNAH SPARROWS [Bruant des prés] seemed to be everywhere in very significant numbers as were NORTHERN FLICKERS [Pic flamboyant]. At the Harvey dam were some successful Merlin attacks of what were suspected to be some of the numerous Savannah Sparrows as prey. Thanks to Gilles Belliveau for confirming this raptor identification. PALM WARBLERS [Paruline à couronne rousse] were abundant but at fewer numbers than the Savannah Sparrows. A nice CHIPPING SPARROW [Bruant familier] got into the photo line up as well.

** Dan Hicks has been enjoying watching two RED FOXES [Renard roux] seemingly working together hunting rodents in his fields. His Alpacas are keeping a close eye on them and guarding the barn door, ready to challenge any perceived threats. Dan got a photo of the Foxes in relaxed mode. Dan is being pressured to invest in a new camera to catch the surprising amount of activity on his edge of the city property.
Dan has a yard pond that a GREAT BLUE HERON [Grand Héron] has developed a strong interest in. It got named Melvin, and even though gangly appearing they are enjoying very efficient activity. Dan has had HOODED MERGANSERS [Harle couronné], MALLARDS [Canard colvert] and AMERICAN WIGEONS [Canard d'Amérique] around his pond this week. He has a Ducks Unlimited duck box erected at an excellent location waiting for patrons.

** On Tuesday David Christie comments on the very noticeable influx of SAVANNAH SPARROWS [Bruant des prés] in the Harvey area seeing a hundred plus along the road, as well as ten each of PALM WARBLERS [Paruline à couronne rousse] and YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS [Paruline à croupion jaune]. John Inman was suspicious that he had a BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER [Paruline à gorge noire] come by. John noted approximately fifteen TREE SWALLOWS [Hirondelle bicolore] over the Lars Larson Marsh at 7:30 to 8:00 am. David noted twenty at 10:00 am and on a recheck at 5:00 pm he found approximately fifty Tree Swallows and two BARN SWALLOWS [Hirondelle rustique] at that site. AMERICAN ROBINS [Merle d'Amérique] and NORTHERN FLICKERS [Pic flamboyant] were everywhere that one would care to look.

** There is a revised edition of the fold up, plasticized pocket guide ( A Pocket Guide to Butterflies of The Maritimes ) by Rick Cavasin. These are beautiful pocket guides to carry to get familiar with our butterfly species that are soon to be flying. David Cannon has ten copies of the revised edition, five of which are spoken for. David will have these at the May Nature Moncton meeting at $13.00 each. There are five still unspoken for which you can reserve if you wish at david.cannon@rogers.com

or you can order them directly at the attached link.

http://www.maritimes.butterflyguide.ca/pocket-guides/maritimes

If you already have the first edition there is no need to replace it as the revisions in edition 2 are relatively minor.
Jim Edsall very much recommends this publication and a photo of the front cover is attached. The best place of all for Maritime butterfly interests is at the attached link for The Maritimes Breeding Butterfly Atlas. Go to "species checklist and profiles" and then click on the highlighted name of the species you want to see and arrows will point out the salient features to look for. Unfortunately it is not as portable in the field, yes those iPhones work well but their images sure are small.

http://www.accdc.com/mba/index-mba.html

** More and more TREE SWALLOWS [Hirondelle bicolore] ... Judy Marsh had three flying about her Harrisville yard on Monday morning, and two were checking out a successfully used nest box in her yard from last year. At the former Keddy's location on the Shediac Rd. two Swallows were checking out Nature Moncton box #10 on the tennis court fence there which was successfully used last year as well. Two KILLDEER [Pluvier kildir] were also spotted near the tennis court.

** The SNOW BUNTINGS [Bruant des neiges] are still with us. Aldo Dorio got a photo of a male and a female in breeding plumage at Hay Island on Tuesday. Snow levels are still high there but I suspect that Snow Buntings use much more reliable cues to file flight plans north. Aldo also saw the OSPREYS [Balbuzard pêcheur] arrive to the Hay Island nest on Tuesday. I don't think that nest was successful last year so best wishes to them for better housekeeping luck this year. Aldo also had two HERMIT THRUSHES [Grive solitaire] visit his Neguac yard on Tuesday. He also had a distinct Flycatcher but unfortunately the photo angle makes it hard to identify. Flycatchers are just not easy photographic subjects.

** Brian Stone and Ruth Ricker Leblanc stopped by the Bell Marsh on Tuesday. They saw TREE SWALLOWS [Hirondelle bicolore], RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS [Carouge à épaulettes], CEDAR WAXWINGS [Jaseur d'Amérique], GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET [Roitelet à couronne dorée], HOUSE FINCHES [Roselin familier], CANADA GEESE [Bernaches du Canada] and RING-NECKED DUCKS [Fuligule à collier]. They went on to Salisbury, to the pond at Highland Park, but the Great Egret was not present. They did see BUFFLEHEAD [Petit Garrot] ducks, OSPREY [Balbuzard pêcheur], AMERICAN WIGEONS [Canard d'Amérique] and NORTHERN SHOVELERS [Canard souchet]. Brian also had a GROUNDHOG [Marmotte commune] up and enjoying the sunshine in his back yard and checking out the photographer.

I am reattaching Brian's photos of bees on the forest floor at Mapleton Park. Brian has found a match on BugGuide identifying them as MINING BEES and the attached link to BugGuide gives a nice explanation. https://bugguide.net/node/view/258030

I am also reattaching photos of a SWEAT BEE that we have been able to get identified. There are many species of Sweat Bees and they are common but can be challenging to identify as they are variable on top of several species in the genus.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton