NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, April 6, 2021 (Tuesday)
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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)
**Richard Blacquiere spotted an adult male RUDDY DUCK [Érismature rousse] in the Hampton Lagoon on Monday that had just arrived. It was with another non-breeding male that
has been at the lagoon for a few weeks.
Am assuming the non-breeding bird is a first-year male. That wedgewood blue bill of a male adult male
Ruddy Duck is striking.
**Frank Branch reports that he has never had so many COMMON REDPOLL [Sizerin flammé] over the many years that he has been birding in his Paquetville yard
on Sunday (approximately 150). However,
it may have been a major refueling for the northern journey as Frank had approximately
10 redpolls in
his yard on Monday. Frank photographed one
on Sunday that appears to be a Hoary Redpoll.
With that number chances are a HOARY
REDPOLL [Sizerin blanchâtre] was
present. Frank was very fortunate to
isolate it for a photo.
**Aldo Dorio got a photo of a pair of BLACK SCOTER [Macreuse noire]
that took a rest off Hay Island shore on Monday.
**Nature Moncton President Fred Richards has started
to prepare a quarterly Newsletter in the form of “A Letter from the President” especially
directed to Nature Moncton membership, however, am going to attach it below as
it may be helpful to other Naturalist groups as well as advise of upcoming
Nature Moncton events that others are welcome to join, virtually or in person,
whichever the case may be. From President Fred:
April 6, 2021
Greetings from Nature Moncton.
Wishing you all a great spring and hoping you can get out to enjoy the
natural wonders that are all around us. I plan to send out one of these “letter
from the President” communications quarterly, to keep you up to date on what is
happening with Nature Moncton.
The Executive continues to meet monthly to keep the business of Nature
Moncton moving. I thank the Executive for all the work they do to keep Nature
Moncton running so smoothly.
The ability to pay your membership online -- an idea proposed by a
member -- has been followed by an increase in memberships paid, so thank you
and keep your ideas coming. If you have not renewed your membership,
it is not too late to do so. The membership fees are Nature Moncton’s primary
source of revenue and with them, we are able to keep up everything from the
website to a licence for Zoom which allows us to have our monthly meetings; in
addition, we are able to offer free bird nest boxes to our members as a
value-added bonus.
We are happy to be able to continue our monthly presentations in a
virtual format and look forward to a time when we can do them live
again. We have moved from the Google Meet format to Zoom and the
transition seems to have gone very well. A lot of learning has gone
into this and it seems by the feedback that you like it better as
well. If any of you are having difficulties connecting please let me
know.
The April 20th monthly meeting will be a virtual visit to Sable Island
with presenter Greg Stroud. May will feature Karen Vanderwolf
on Bats and will focus on her ongoing work on monitoring them after the
White-nose Syndrome and her efforts to provide appropriate nest
boxes. June will feature David Bell on his birding trips across
Canada. I am looking forward to the upcoming presentations and hope to see
you there.
We also have more outings planned. Roger Leblanc will give a
virtual presentation on pond ducks on the evening of April 15th and
then an outing to see the ducks in the wild on the following Saturday. We also
have a trip to Hayward Pinnacle, guided by Kelly Honeyman, for unrivalled
views of Southeastern New Brunswick with bonus rare plant observations. This
walk should not be too strenuous as there is a way to drive most of the way
there. We are also working out the details for Tuesday evening nature walks in
and around Moncton during the Summer. This is only a brief overview,
so check the website http://www.naturemoncton.com for more
details.
Thank you.
Fred Richards
President, Nature Moncton
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
