Nature Moncton Nature News: Aug 19 2020

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, August 19, 2020 (Wednesday)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Transcript by: Brian Stone bjpstone@gmail.com

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

** The Hampton lagoon and area is home to a large overnight roost of TURKEY VULTURES [Urubu à tête rouge]. In the morning, especially on sunny days, they often congregate for a while by the sewage pond to warm up and socialize. A photo from Richard Blacquiere shows some of the group on Tuesday morning. The local ducks don’t seem to mind sharing space and they just move out of the way to give them room. Because they are never all in view at the same time it is hard to know the total number of vultures that spend the night in Hampton. Adding the birds in the photo, plus some in another area, plus a few perched in the trees, Richard made a rough estimate of approximately 100 birds present on Tuesday. It’s still a bit soon for hatch-year vultures to appear. These brown-headed birds usually don’t show up in Hampton until the last few days of August or very early in September. It is a nice Hampton roundup of Turkey Vulture activity.

** Mac Wilmot got an interesting photo of a small nest shingled with lichen and in the crotch of a tree branch that is typical of the vireos. As luck would have it a nestling had its head poked out looking to be very near fledging. As Gilles Belliveau points out the pale supercillium does suggest vireo. It will be interesting to keep an eye on this nest from an appropriate distance to see what species of parent bird may come to tend the nest.

** On Sunday, August 16^th, Bill and Marguerite Winsor visited Sackville Waterfowl Park around noon just after a heavy shower. They came across an AMERICAN WOODCOCK [Bécasse d'Amérique] that obviously had been caught in the rain. It looked quite wet and Marguerite was able to get a few photos before it disappeared under the boardwalk. They were also fortunate to see all 3 juvenile LITTLE BLUE HERONS [Aigrette bleue] and they sent a picture of one of them.

** Jane Leblanc had at least 3 BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLERS [Paruline noir et blanc] in her yard pine tree to provide a very pleasant photo of one. This warbler changes its plumage very little with the seasons to make it an easy warbler to know. The wheezy vocalization can be a bit more difficult to pick up. The warblers were being chased by the RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES [Sittelle à poitrine rousse] and BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES [Mésange à tête noire] as Jane had put up her sunflower feeder and they felt they were dealing with competitors.

** Aldo Dorio’s photos of the day include a YELLOW WARBLER [Paruline jaune], a male AMERICAN REDSTART [Paruline flamboyante] and a fall version YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER [Paruline à croupion jaune].

** With Riverview Marsh and Bis Marsh nearly dried up there have been some changes made to Saturday’s Nature Moncton Shorebird Field Trip. The destination and meeting place has changed. See the attached write-up below.

NATURE MONCTON SHOREBIRD OUTING

Tucker St. Impoundments, Upper Coverdale

DATE : SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2020

TIME : 1 :00 pm

MEETING PLACE : Riverview Mall -- 740 Coverdale (at Trites) in front of the Broadview Power Sports store

GUIDE : ROGER LEBLANC

** PLEASE REGISTER WITH LOUISE NICHOLS AT nicholsl@eastlink.ca

Even though we are smack in the middle of a beautiful warm summer, fall migration has already started. No, not so much those confusing autumn warblers or hard-to-differentiate flycatchers yet, but shorebirds for sure. Now the simple mention of shorebirds can bring a glazed look to the eyes of many, and for good reasons. There are dozens of species and they are often seen in mixed flocks far off in a marsh on a mud flat or beach. Plus here in the Maritimes, we mostly see them at a time of year when they are in drab basic or winter plumage that is essentially the same for all: a bicolored combination of darkish gray on top, with white on the bottom -- great for hiding from predators but not so good for birders to figure what they are. So all of this explains the fact that some just call them peeps and move on to more “reasonable” birds. But shorebirding can be lots of fun and we are in fact fortunate, in our region, to be near some great shorebird migration stopovers, even just minutes from the city centre along the Petitcodiac River. But how are we supposed to identify those little gray birds all the way out there on the mud flat that just won’t stand still and don’t vocalize a lot?

Once again Nature Moncton comes to the rescue. On Saturday August 22we are offering a shorebird outing. Our own Roger Leblanc will lead this outing and will share with us the tricks of the trade that he has honed over several decades to help us put names on most of the shorebirds out there. As well as lead the outing, Roger will focus on field marks, habitats, behaviors and other clues that can help birders more easily identify the dozen or so shorebird species we should see. So if you have been hoping to find something to do bird-wise to bridge the extravanza of spring birding and the allure of autumn rarities, this is your chance. Don’t miss it.

Bring binoculars, and a scope if you have one.

All are welcome, Nature Moncton member or not.

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton