NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE. Feb 8, 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)
**Brigitte Noel says she got the luck of her life on
Saturday going back home from Hampton on the Centennial Road to Cambridge
Narrows. A BOBCAT [Lynx roux], that
she had never seen in real life before, appeared in a field and Brigitte got
some photographs from the car. It let
her snap some photos before going back to the bush. They were going to take the road home from
Bloomfield, it was closed, so they came back on the same road and it was there
again finishing its meal. Double luck at
3 o’clock in the afternoon! Brigitte did
get some wonderful photos to share. The
Bobcat is a very common animal in NB but seldom seen due to its stealthy nature. They are more commonly seen this time of year
as the female that has coddled her youngsters since birth, comes into estrus
and suddenly in no uncertain terms tells the young teenagers to, head out on
their own. Without mothers’ help in
finding food they can become hungry and more apt to hunt during the day and
sometimes that means nearer human habitation, until they learn the ropes. With the adult pairs, now interested in
pairing up briefly, it can also be possible to see a pair together as it is
reported ‘love’ can make them less wary of people, being preoccupied. The male and the female only stay together
for mating. The male will play no part
in family life, using the time for more leisurely activities!
Brigitte
also sends a photo of a dark-morphed GRAY
SQUIRREL [Ecureuil gris] she saw
in Oromocto recently, which is the first that she has ever seen in New
Brunswick, but has seen them in Quebec where the dark-morph is more common. It is also more commonly seen in Ontario.
**Pam Watters and Phil Riebel were in the right place
at the right time to witness an unexpected scenario. Pam and Phil went to La Cedriere Beach (just
a bit south of Val Comeau) on Friday and found many washed up invertebrates on
the beach in different locations. These
included small to medium-sized Lobsters [homards], Bar Clams [palourdes], Starfish [étoile de
mer] and Crabs [Crabes]. Several of the
Lobsters were still alive but very weak.
There were also a number of larger Lobster claws but just the
claws. Their conclusion was that the
windy storm earlier in the week churned up the bottom and dislodged many of
these invertebrates and washed them on shore.
There was a lot of gulls in one area of the beach to take advantage of
the smorgasbord menu. Phil also
photographed a winter-plumaged male LONG-TAILED
DUCK [Harelde kakawi] sailing
by on an ice floe at the same location.
**Clarence Cormier has 2 PORCUPINES [Porc-épic d'Amerique], he wonders if they may not be a pair, in the trees
around his bird feeders since January 18th. They are chewing on a variety of trees such
as Maple, Alder, Birch, Cedar. They
carry on their mission showing no concern whatsoever with Clarence working in
his yard right beside them. He doesn’t
mind sharing his abundant trees with them but would like to talk them into
leaving his Cedar trees alone.
Clarence is inundated with COMMON
REDPOLLS [Sizerin flammé] at 100+
covering his feeders and deck, but one with a very orange crown-patch caught
his eye and got a good photo of it.
According to the Common Redpoll write-up in Birds of North America; “the
crown is shiny bright poppy red but sometimes more orange or even gold”. This must be fairly uncommon as we have had
lots of redpolls this year to offer up one with an orange crown. In addition to Clarence's photo, I am adding
one from the internet that shows this same scenario as an uncommon occurrence.
**Brian Stone comments Sunday was a great day with
conditions just right to form solar halos.
He photographed a colourful one.
**Pat and I did an afternoon round of the Tantramar
Marsh on Sunday. The roads were frozen
and easy to navigate with some exceptions of snow ruts. We saw no Owls. Wildlife was a bit sparse. Wildlife seen, included a few ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS [Buse pattue], a NORTHERN HARRIER [Busard
Saint-Martin], BALD
EAGLES [Pygargue à tête blanche], a RED-TAILED HAWK [Buse à queue rousse] and Fred and Sue Richards. All the wildlife noted seemed to be easily
spooked, except the Richards who were much less wary and very pleasant to
encounter friends and observe Covid-19 restrictions at the same time.
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
