NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, Feb, 23 2021 (Tuesday)
To respond by email, please address your message to
the information line editor, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Please advise the editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com if any errors are noted in wording or photo
labelling.
For more information on Nature Moncton, check the
website at www.naturemoncton.com
Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Transcript by Susan Richards susan_richards@rogers.com
Info Line #: 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)
**Last Friday and Sunday Suzanne and Yves Poussart
enjoyed the nice weather exploring the coast.
As a result of the recent cold temperatures and extent of the coastal
ice has now significantly increased and the usual marine birds are now only
found in the open waters close to the Foch Bridge in Shediac and the Little
Bouctouche River Bridge at the South end of Bouctouche. At these two sites good numbers of BARROW'S GOLDENEYE [Garrot d'Islande] COMMON GOLDENEYE [Garrot à
oeil d'or] and COMMON
MERGANSER [Grand Harle] were the
main species present. The nice quality
of light provided excellent conditions to take many photos and some of them are
attached. In Shediac, Yves could get
photos of a female Common Merganser just after a successful dive for a fish
meal. Note in the clear photo how the
sawtooth bill of this species grasps its fish prey, appearing like it may be a
Smelt.
**Susan and Fred Richards spent the day Sunday
exploring the Tantramar Marsh to enjoy the HORNED
LARK [Alouette hausse-col] so many
have enjoyed it there the past week.
They also saw a few LAPLAND LONGSPUR [Bruant
lapon]. There were SNOW
BUNTING [Bruant des neiges] flipping
about, with a pleasant 15 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS [Jaseur
boréal] perched in a tree on the south side of the
marsh being tossed in the wind which grew stronger as the day grew late. Only 1 RING-NECKED
PHEASANT [Faisan de Colchide] was seen
but it represented the species. They
comment ‘a great way to spend a sunny pleasant day’.
**Jane LeBlanc’s male NORTHERN
CARDINAL [Cardinal rouge] has
returned to join the female after a 10-day absence. She wonders if they are really a pair or
clutch-mates. Wondering if the grey in
the feathering could mean it is molting or a sign of any certain age or is it
just very variability? With the recent cardinal
influx into New Brunswick this may be interesting to know. Any comments would be appreciated.
**Brian Coyle got some excellent track/trail photos
made by a FISHER [pêcheur] which is not a commonly encountered animal in
Southern New Brunswick. Brian knows it
was a Fisher as he got portions of the animal on his trail camera to firmly
identify it as a Fisher, as it investigated a BOBCAT [Lynx roux] marker Brian had his trail camera aimed on. If the camera had been slightly to the right,
he would have had a photo of the complete animal. I am attaching several photos as this is a
track/trail we will not see much of in Southeastern New Brunswick.
**Mike Batog in Mckees Mills came across a trail and
tracks in snow that are open to ideas.
It appears to be canine tracks as if dragging something but there was no
sign of blood, feathers or fur. As
always, with uncertain tracks or trails, comments would be appreciated.
**Brain Stone did some serious track sleuthing on
Monday behind Crandell University. One
set appears to be a WEASEL with it popping in and out of under-snow tunnels and
the spaced track prints, consisting of four paws in one print (or nearly so). Another group seemed to be feline, probably BOBCAT
but close together as if hunting. (Editor’s
note: great to see a scale being used)
Another trail would be a rule-out for a squirrel. Animal tracks in the snow are often a best
guess unless convincing other evidence is noted.
Brian also
photographed a nest that would appear to be suspended, as that a Vireo would
construct.
**Andrew Darcy received some feedback from the
Ring-Necked Pheasant photo that he posted yesterday and he was wondering about
that bird for sure. It appears as though
it is a potential hybrid Ring-Necked Pheasant cross Green Pheasant (aka
Japanese Pheasant) and not an immature male Ring-Necked Pheasant. Interesting bird. He suspects there may be some captive
escapees in that area. That photo is
reposted today and Andrew comments it may be notable for teaching purposes.
**Pat heard a noise on our camp deck on Monday
morning. To her surprise, a WEASEL [Belette à courte queue] was very impatiently working on a plastic bag of
butcher shop meat cutting sawdust mentioned in yesterday’s edition to attract CANADA JAY [Mésangeai du Canada]. I had put
some in a net sack on our yard tree yesterday and surprised to see not a trace
of it next morning. The taker soon
revealed itself on the deck trying to open a plastic bag of the same left on
the deck for replenishing. It allowed
for a quick through-the-window photo. We
appear to notice not a single Deer Mouse was in the traps in the camp which always
seemed to have been a few patrons in the past.
I expect the Weasel enjoyed the camp Deer Mice as well as the new-found
treat of meat-cutting sawdust.
**My nephew Larry Sherrard and I erected 2 Saw-whet
Owl [vu la petite chouette] boxes on a back road near Sunny Corner where I had
been hearing a Saw-whet Owl tooting every spring.
Take note of the ladder being used; this is the great
aluminum telescopic ladder used and recommended by Roger Leblanc. It is the first time that we used it (an
Amazon purchase). It’s light, very
sturdy, extendible, slides down into an easily carried package and look forward
to using it for TREE SWALLOW [Hirondelle bicolore] box care in April.
We also took note of the tracks of feline, probably BOBCAT and SNOWSHOE HARE [Lièvre d'Amérique].
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
No comments:
Post a Comment