NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, October
29, 2020 (Thursday)
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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)
** On their way for an activity in
Shediac Wednesday morning Suzanne and Yves Poussart were able to watch several
large flocks of COMMON EIDERS [Eider à duvet] flying over the Shediac Bay and
the Scoudouc River. The attached photos were taken close to the Foch bridge. A
close inspection of the files on the computer confirm that the first impression
of the proportion of males was by far exceeding that of females, 95 to 97 %
males compared to 3 to 5 % females. Over all the estimate of the total number
of birds flying within these flocks was approximately 400 individuals.
** Daryl Doucet reports that the 15 EVENING
GROSBEAKS [Gros-bec errant] that visited his Moncton feeder yard on Tuesday
were back for seconds on Wednesday. Daryl got some nice photos. Here’s hoping
that they spread the word about all the good birdfeeders in Moncton. Daryl had
a great diversity of turnout to his feeder yard on Wednesday with many of the
expected regulars with Evening Grosbeak and HOUSE FINCH [Roselin familier] as
value added bonuses. The winter lineup of visitors is shaping up nicely.
** Tina Steeves had a piebald WHITE-TAILED
DEER [Cerf de Virginie] visit her yard near Riverbend Subdivision in Coverdale
on Wednesday at dusk. Tina got a quick photo on her cell phone. It sure does
show up at dusk! The literature suggests that approximately 2% of White-tailed
Deer are piebald. It is a genetic quirk produced by a recessive gene that one
of the parents must carry to result in the occasional piebald animal. If by
remote chance both parents happen to carry the recessive gene, the phenotype is
much more likely to be exhibited.
** Carol Shea spotted a YELLOW-SPOTTED
SALAMANDER [Salamandre maculée] moving across her Upham yard on Monday, October
26. It was 6 inches+ (15 cm) in length and Carol was able to get a nice photo.
** Aldo Dorio reports that the AMERICAN
COOT [Foulque d'Amérique] is continuing its stay at Hay Island as of Wednesday
morning. Aldo also photographed a few BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS [Jaseur boréal]
quenching their thirst at a bit of a water puddle.
** Cave bats have gone into freefall in New
Brunswick since the White Nose Syndrome hit. Karen Vanderwolf was very involved
with the New Brunswick scenario along with Don McAlpine. Karen is still very
involved with bats and is doing research work on them at Trent University in
Peterborough Ontario. She has written a very interesting post for the Canadian
Nature Federation that one can review at the link below.
http://blog.cwf-fcf.org/?author=5
She is also involved in a Canadian bat box
project which I am not able to provide a link for at the moment, but Karen will
provide it when it is available. It is very interesting. Karen is aware of
several bat boxes in New Brunswick that were successful, including ones with
maternal colonies as shown in the photos attached Karen took in Fredericton on
July 19, 2019. Remember this is post White Nose Syndrome. Karen also provides a
link, below, that shows how to build your own bat house recommending either the
rocket or a 4 chambered box style.
http://www.batcon.org/resources/getting-involved/bat-houses/build
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
