NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, Feb, 15 2021 (Monday)
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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Transcript by Susan Richards susan_richards@rogers.com
Info Line #: 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)
**Gordon Rattray took a drive Saturday to Tantramar
Marsh and then up the coastal shore. He
saw only 1 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK [Buse pattue] at a far distance, but nothing else on the Tantramar Marsh. Pointe-du-Chene wharf was iced in with heavy
ice covering. At Caissie Cape wharf
there were some COMMON EIDER [Eider à duvet] with adult males far out on the water, also a female LONG-TAILED DUCK [Harelde kakawi]and had an over-flight of 12 COMMON MERGANSER [Grand Harle] as well. Note
the different plumage of the genders of the LONG-TAILED
DUCK. Cocagne Bridge had 22 BARROW'S GOLDENEYE [Garrot d'Islande]. Cormier wharf
was iced in and St. Thomas was open but not a single bird.
At Gordon’s
Weldon feeder yard Sunday morning, he was able to get a picture of what appears
to meet the criteria of a HOARY REDPOLL [Sizerin
blanchâtre]. He
has been seeing it several times lately.
He has a flock of 75 -100 Redpolls daily. Gordon shows a COMMON
REDPOLL [Sizerin flammé] next to
the Hoary Redpoll in separate photos. With the Hoary Redpoll, note the shorter stubby bill, minimal streaking below and rump and under-tail coverts are unstreaked. There is a scientific discussion going on if
the Hoary Redpoll should be lumped into one species or sub-species of the
Common Redpoll, but as of this time, they are separate species.
**Sue and Steve Berube enjoyed a flock of 20 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS and 2 AMERICAN ROBINS in a Flowering Crab tree last week near their Riverview home. Sue’s photos show the signature cinnamon undertail covert and wing markings nicely.
They have had some good walks on these sunny but cold days. On the Riverview marsh on Sunday, Sue was following a NORTHERN HARRIER with binoculars when it flushed a SHORT-EARED OWL. Too far and fast for photos but great to know at least they are still around.
Sue was alerted to action by a couple of sudden window strikes at their home to find a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK was monitoring the bird feeders to make things very quiet for a few days, Sue’s photos show the notched tail and dark crown and nape to rule out Cooper’s Hawk.
**Sue Richards noted tracks were behind their Taylor Village house coming from
the woods and marsh field towards the house. They appear to be SNOWSHOE HARE
tracks showing the large ‘snowshoe’ hind paws with the angled front paws.
In the one photo the tracks are crossed with WHITE-TAILED DEER tracks. The deer
Sue saw, cleaning up the cracked corn and whatever sunflower feeder they could
tip sideways to get seeds out.
**Jane LeBlanc had a quick stop and go visit from an
adult NORTHERN SHRIKE [Pie-grièche
grise] on Sunday, as it checked
out Jane’s St. Martins menu. Note the shrike
is perched on a Red Maple branch showing the opposite arrangement of the
branches. Maple and Ash are the only native
New Brunswick Deciduous Trees with this opposite arrangement. This does not apply to shrubs.
**Daryl Doucet’s EASTERN
TOWHEE [Tohi à flancs roux]
was much more co-operative on Sunday and
popped up on the deck to allow some better photos. Its food choice is ground-applied white
millet. It’s normally more shy and is
often best seen from the portion of Moncton’s Mapleton Park Trail that runs
just behind Daryl’s home.
**Tomorrow night, Tuesday night, Nature Moncton’s
virtual meeting at 7 o’clock p.m. with a presentation from Mike Holland and is
repeated below, with a link for anyone anywhere to join in. This will be repeated tomorrow at the end of the message.
NATURE MONCTON FEBRUARY
MEETING
February 16, 2021 at 7:00
PM
VIRTUAL MEETING
Presenter: Mike Holland, Minister of Natural Resources and
Energy Development
“Protected Areas of New
Brunswick”
In October 2019, the government of NB announced it would more than double the
amount of conserved land in the province in the next 14 months bringing the
total up to 10%. That would translate into the creation of a good number of new
Protected Natural Areas (PNA) in which conservation is the focus. The events of
2020 delayed the project a bit, as well as many other things, but the province
is still on track to fulfill this commitment and has put forward a consultation
process to help it along. For naturalists this should be of great interest and
that is why we thought it would be good to have someone come and give us a talk
on the subject. And who better to do that than Mike Holland the minister of the
Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development. Minister Holland is a
fervent outdoorsman himself and it should be of great interest to all to hear
how he sees the future of conservation in our beautiful province.
This presentation will be virtual
with anyone anywhere welcome to join. The link to the presentation will
be
https://meet.google.com/nbg-baff-ioc
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
