NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, April
14, 2021 (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 EASTERN BLUEBIRDS [Merlebleu de
l'Est] are returning … Dale and Helen Halfpenny had an Eastern Bluebird arrive
to their Stilesville yard and it went right to the suet feeder. They report
that it is the first time that they have had an Eastern Bluebird come to their
feeder yard.
** Dale Gaskin reports that he had 2
reports of a SANDHILL CRANE [Grue du Canada] in the Osbourne Corner area on
Tuesday. He is going to be checking it out today. Dale comments that his feeder
yard is full of DARK-EYED JUNCOS [Junco ardoisé] and comments he is getting
regularly both WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCHES [Sittelle à poitrine blanche] and RED-BREASTED
NUTHATCHES [Sittelle à poitrine rousse]. He also comments that it was cool
enough for penguins to drop by his Dawson Settlement yard on Tuesday, but don’t
try for this one as a lifer as the cold weather was bothering Dale as well!
**Peter
and Deana Gadd usually have a few BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS arrive to their
Miramichi feeder yard at this time of year but Tuesday had a surprising 14
males and 3 females arrive. There were 6 females a few days ago. This would
seem like an unexpected number of this species to suddenly arrive at one time.
Peter got a few nice photos with a colourful 1st year male RED-WINGED
BLACKBIRD joining the troupe.
**Andrew
Darcy went to look for signs of life at Hall's Creek on the weekend and was
pleasantly surprised to see his first of year WOOD FROG, COMMON GARTER SNAKE,
RED-BACKED SALAMANDER, AND AMBSTOMA (MOLE) SALAMANDER EGG MASSES.
(Editors note: The Red-backed salamander may be one of our most common
woodland salamanders but photos of them are not easy to get due to their
secretive nocturnal nature. Also take note of the striking Cladonia spp. lichens
beside it sometimes called Ladder Lichen)
The Wood frogs were not very vocal, but he did hear them calling briefly. The pond he visited had large numbers of ambstoma (mole salamander) eggs (most likely BLUE-SPOTTED SALAMANDER) based on smaller clutch size and linear shape compared to Yellow Spotted salamander). Andrew missed most of the wet and wild nighttime action, but the fruits of their labor were very apparent. There may be a couple more opportunities to see them over the next week or so but the end of their breeding migration is quickly approaching.
He also saw his first of year MOURNING CLOAK BUTTERFLY, and heard an EASTERN PHOEBE. A WINTER FIREFLY was also active and came to say hello. This is a species of firefly in the genus Ellychnia. It is a lantern-less diurnal beetle common throughout the United States and Canada. The mating season is approximately 6 weeks in length, occurring early April through mid-May.
** Fred and Sue Richards had 4 RING-NECKED PHEASANTS [Faisan de Colchide] in their Taylor Village yard on Tuesday afternoon. Fred found the differences in colour interesting and so sends 2 photos of the females showing the difference in colouration. Most folks seem to only see the males and Fred comments that he finds the females can be very striking in plumage as well as the males. It seems that a lot more variable plumaged Ring-necked Pheasants are being reported.
** The nocturnal sounds are certainly
elevated in spring with migrating waterfowl, American Woodcock, amphibians and
owls etc. Pat and I went for a late evening run on a Miramichi backroad on
Monday night to hear the constant, almost monotonous, tooting of the leprechaun
of our owls, the NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL [Petite nyctale].
** Another heads up on the Nature
Moncton virtual and outdoor Freshwater Duck event. Due to the weather forecast
and presence of waterfowl at the Hillsborough site it has again been postponed
by another week. Check out the attached revised write-up.
NATURE MONCTON EVENT
WHAT’S THAT DUCK?: A WORKSHOP/OUTING ON DABBLING AND DIVING DUCKS
Workshop (Virtual):
Thurs. April 22nd from 7:00 to 9:00 pm
Outing: Sat. April 24th (rain date: Sun.
Apr. 25th) from 10:00 into the afternoon. (**Bring a lunch)
Meeting Place for
Outing: Rte 114 and Steeves St.,
Hillsborough (meet at the lot in back of the post office, near the fighter jet
at the far end).
Presenter and Guide:
Roger Leblanc
Registration (for outing
only): with Louise Nichols –
nicholsl@eastlink.ca
Cost: $5:00 for members/$10.00 for non-members (to
be paid at the outing on April 24th)
With the arrival of spring, many bird species that have left us for more
moderate climes will be coming back. Amongst
the first to return, and certainly some of the most colorful, are ducks. Now some ducks, mostly sea ducks, have toughed
it out and stayed with us through winter, but their habits and behaviors are so
different that they justify a separate treatment. At this workshop/outing, we will concentrate
only on dabbling and diving ducks found on inland bodies of water. So what is the difference between dabbling and
diving? In this workshop we will learn the
answer to that question and how to tell them apart. Dressed in their spring finest, dabbling and
diving ducks have already started coming back to us. On arrival, they first congregate in bays,
waterways and impoundments before getting down to the arduous matter of
producing next year’s offspring. This makes
April the perfect time to learn to recognize them or simply brush up on your duck
ID skills. And if you are just getting
into “birdwatching,” ducks are a perfect place to start because they are big,
colourful, have a tendency to stay put long enough for one to study them and many
are jam-packed with identification-helping field marks. Still some, females in particular, can be
confusing. So to help you out with this,
Nature Moncton is offering this combination workshop and outing. With our own Roger
Leblanc, we will first have an online weekday evening workshop to study the 14 species
of dabbling or diving ducks that can be expected in the region now. We will
learn how to separate them by habitat, behavior, and field marks. Roger will
also share with us his experience-based “tools of the trade” for duck
identification. Then on the weekend we will head out to a couple of duck hot
spots in the Hillsborough region where ducks are findable in mixed groups at
this time of year. There, with Roger’s
help, we will work on using the knowledge learned in the workshop to ID them to
species. All in all, a great learning
and fun-filled experience that should help you better answer the question: “What’s
that duck?”
All are welcome, Nature Moncton member or not.
** Bring a scope if you have one, and binoculars. Roger will have an extra scope and binoculars
available if anyone needs them.
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
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