Nature Moncton Nature News: August 18 2019

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LIE, August 18, 2019 (Sunday)

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Edited by Nelson Poirier, <nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com>

Transcript by David Christie, <maryspt@mac.com>

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

** On Saturday afternoon, Canadian Wildlife Service staff observed one of the best shows of shorebirds at Mary’s Point this summer, with several thousand roosting on the beach and about 50,000 more flying about. PEREGRINE FALCONS [Faucon pèlerin] made a few attacks and a MERLIN [] managed to catch a sandpiper.

On Wednesday, Yvette Richard visited the Cap Lumiere area to note approximately a dozen colourful Ruddy Turnstones, all seeming to be adult birds.

Brian Coyle’s attention was drawn to the raucous alarm calls being emitted by a pair of AMERICAN ROBINS in the bushes beside his house. He looked for a house cat on the ground as a likely source, but only when he glanced up to the top of a dead Tamarack tree beside the house did he see the source of their alarm. A Merlin was de-feathering a bird which he suspected may have been a robin fledgling. The backlighting made for poor quality photos. The parent robins showing a peculiar "head bobbing" behavior, as they harassed the Merlin.

It took the Merlin 25 minutes to consume the bird, then taking off with a small morsel in one set of talons, with the robins in pursuit.

The blooming period of the beautiful White-fringed Orchid is nearing its end but Louise Nichols was able to find one plant still sporting its fresh blooms in a dryer part of the bog on their Aulac property on Saturday. It was in a dryer part of the bog. Most of the plants were well past their prime but this one gave us a chance to get a second look before their season subsided of this pleasant bog inhabitant.

Aldo Dorio got photos of a LEAST SANDPIPER at Hay Island on Saturday. The white fringing on many feathers suggests it may be a young-of-the-year bird which should be starting to arrive now. Note the yellowish legs, slight droop at the bill tip, and warm brown tones in the plumage.

** Krista Doyle got a photo of a VICEROY [Vice-roi] butterfly in her Lewis Mountain yard on Saturday. Note the dark crossbar on the hind wing, not present on the similar MONARCH {Monarque] butterfly.

** Jane LeBlanc watched an AMERICAN CROW [Corneille d’Amérique foraging on the unripe berries of mountain ash on Saturday. They must have been a bit tart at this stage, but then again, a crow seems to forage on whatever fits its bill.

** Pat and I dropped by the Riverview Marsh on Saturday afternoon. The two MARBLED GODWITS [Barge marbrée] were still present, not close to shore but in the middle of the pond area, very actively feeding and staying not far apart. There was an abundance of other shorebirds present, with LEAST SANDPIPER [Bécasseau minuscule] and both yellowlegs [chevaliers] high on the list. We also visited Rue Nile in Cap-Pelé where we noted at least a dozen RUDDY TURNSTONES [Tournepierre à collier]. There was a mixture of very colourful adults and more drab young-of-the-year. They were very interested in lobster tidbits from the nearby processing plant.