Nature Moncton Nature News: May 13 2018

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, May 13, 2018 (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)

** Paul Langelaan in Second North River had a very bright INDIGO BUNTING [Passerin indigo] in his yard on Saturday morning. This is the fifth year in a row that this has happened. It has been located several times during the summer over those years, so nesting is very strongly suspectedNEARBY.

** Gabriel Gallant shares some observations from a hike around his Ste-Marie-de-Kent property. The most abundant species seen and heard by far was LEAST FLYCATCHER [Moucherolle tchébec], and Gabriel was able to capture a nice photo of one, not an easy bird to get to stay still long enough for a photo. There were also HERMIT THRUSHES [Grive solitaire] and Gabriel’s photo shows the reddish brown on the tail, characteristic of this thrush with the eye-ring. He also got a photo of a SNOWSHOE HARE [Lièvre d'Amérique] still showing some white pelage from winter.

Friday night, he heard a N. SAW-WHET OWL [Petite Nyctale] in the distance from his house, which was very rewarding. It was nearly drowned out by the chorus of SPRING PEEPERS [Rainette crucifère], as well as AMERICAN TOADS [Crapaud d'Amérique] that had started vocalizing.

** Brian Coyle revisited the area where he saw two SANDHILL CRANES [Grue du Canada] on Lower Mountain Road, in a stubble corn field last week. He did not see them but did notice very suspicious tracks in the mud that were not there on Tuesday night when he checked, so he will be re-checking. The alders around a beaver pond were buzzing with YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS [Paruline à croupion jaune] and a NORTHERN SHOVELER [Canard souchet] duck pair were there.

** Jan Tingley visited the Hillsborough ponds on Saturday. The BOBOLINKS [Goglu des prés] have started arriving. Jan spotted 6 near the cat-tails and on the other side of the road, but she suspects they were heading towards the cemetery where they are usually found. There was also a CANADA GOOSE [Bernache du Canada] family, with 5 recently hatched young in tow.

** Connie Colpitts thanks Dave Miller for leading a very successful field trip on the Taylor Road on Saturday. It was enjoyed by eight Salisbury club members and ten guests, who were able to tally 60 bird species. A pleasant day for all!

** Brian Stone got a few interesting photos in his Moncton yard on Saturday. An excellent photo of a MINING BEE [abeille du genre Adrena] one of the early Adrena group showing just how effective these creatures are at carrying loads of pollen to supply their nests, as well as how extremely effective they are as pollinators.

He also got a CHIPPING SPARROW [Bruant familier] that shows nicely the solid eye-line right to the bill, reddish-brown cap, and clean breast that are good identification features of this sparrow.

** Louise Nichols recently spent a few days in that Canadian bird Mecca in May, Point Pelee, Ontario, that everyone has on their bucket list. She got to see several species that make occasional bird-alert visits to New Brunswick, like HOODED WARBLER [Paruline à capuchon], PRAIRIE WARBLER [Paruline des prés], PROTHONOTARY WARBLER [Paruline orangée], SUMMER TANAGER [Piranga vermillon], WHITE-EYED VIREO [Viréo aux yeux blancs], and some very special photos of a WOOD THRUSH [Grive des bois] that has decreased in numbers so significantly. She also saw a skulking KENTUCKY WARBLER [Paruline du Kentucky] that chose not be photographed. She also saw Horned grebe in breeding plumage. Louise comments that she overheard one birder say “I wouldn’t want to be an insect in this place."

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton