Nature Moncton Nature News: Nov 22 2018

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, November 22, 2018 (Thursday)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Transcript by: bjpstone@gmail.com

Info Line # 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)

**It is great to hear of another RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER [Pic à ventre roux] in the area. A male has arrived to Annengret Lamure’s Moncton feeder yard. Annegret comments that its food choice is black oil sunflower seed. It now appears there are at least three Red-bellied Woodpeckers have settled in to feeder yards in the area, but I suspect that there is more.

** Brian Coyle captured a very interesting video on his trail camera recently during a snowstorm as a COYOTE [Coyote] jumped up on a large rock assumedly to get a better vantage point of its surroundings. Take a look at the attached link.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ik5blaci4cd1wcp/WGI_0005.AVI?dl=0

** PINE SISKINS [Tarin des pins] are another bird species that is swelling in numbers at feeder yards. Daryl Doucette reports a sudden influx of them to his Moncton feeder yard on Wednesday when a flock of fourteen arrived for morning dining.

** I don’t think we ever get tired of looking at EVENING GROSBEAKS [Gros-bec errant] after the many years we have had without them. Suzanne Gregoire got a photo of a content flock in her Moncton yard that borders on Mapleton Park.

** David Christie reports that, as I expect lots will experience this morning, it is truly a winter wonderland with trees decorated with gentle snowfall at just below freezing and bird feeders only needing a light dusting.

** Dale Gaskin spoke with farmer Mike Dickinson who was pleased with his delivery to Nature Moncton on Tuesday night in spite of the weather for participants including himself who had to overnight in Lincoln due to a combination of road conditions and mechanical challenges with his truck. However all is well that ends well.

** Jill Greening, who joins us from Saskatoon each day, shares a photo of how Jack Frost and resident spiders provided some early Christmas decorations to her home.

** Brian Stone got a nice photo of the moonrise of the full moon as it rose above the horizon on Wednesday evening. It was a very clear sky and cold at -10°C with a wind chill of -18°C. A few hours later that night it dropped to -21°C deg. with a wind chill of -26°C. Thanks for letting us see it at a comfortable room temperature, Brian! (Transcriber’s note … You are welcome, but my fingers have still not thawed out yet.)

** Most of us probably notice that sometimes all the small birds scatter when a BLUE JAY [Geai bleu] arrives. I often wondered why they were so wary of this species. A recent incident gave me a reason. An AMERICAN GOLDFINCH [Chardonneret jaune] struck a window and fell to the ground, but looked like it was about to take off again. When window strikes happen I usually dash out, put the bird in a towel or paper bag, and bring it inside until I see that it is ok and then release it. This time a Blue Jay flew directly to the downed bird, grabbed it, and then flew off with it. I have not seen this before, but the speed and determination of the Blue Jay in this incident suggests that an injured, smaller bird is probably taken by a Blue Jay more often than we realize.

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton