NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, May 31, 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)
**Yvette Richard got a nice photo of the female of the
pair of EASTERN BLUEBIRDS [OISEAUX
BLEU DE L'EST] that are adopting a nest box at her Cocagne site.
Jim Johnson also reports he had 2 male Eastern
Bluebirds flying around his Scotch Settlement home on Sunday.
It is great to hear all these reports as finding a
mate should not be a problem with the number reported which has to mean there
are many more out there unreported.
There is no doubt the population of this very special bird is building up!
**Georges Brun photographed a female RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD [Colibri à gorge rubis] twice on Saturday, as it sat and rested numerous times
giving him the opportunity to take photos aplenty and was obviously serving as
a pollinator.
There are 3 NORTHERN
HARRIER [Busard Saint-Martin] in the
Riverview Marsh. A male and 2
females. Georges saw the adult female
land in the marsh (midway from TransAqua Service Road south side and midway
from Bend of the River Service Road that leads to the Gazebo across from Bore
Park). She stayed in that location quite
a while and, Georges feels fairly certain that there was something moving in
front of her on the ground; perhaps a chick or two.
**The Miramichi Naturalists group did a field trip to
Hay Island on Saturday and were able to locate the GARGANEY [GARGANEY] there,
after almost a month now. It was with 3
male GREEN-WINGED TEAL [Sarcelle
d'hiver]; females are probably on nest now. It was at quite a distance, and they needed a
scope but, it was still there.
**It was a great
day for predators on the South Musquash Marsh on Sunday. Jim Carroll
encountered a BROAD-WINGED HAWK with a mammal prey and a WEASEL with what
appears to be a rodent. Jim captured great action photos. The Broad-winged Hawk
tends to prefer amphibians and reptiles, but Jim’s photos show its cuisine
extends beyond that. The Weasel is a small mammal itself to make the prey, a
suspected vole, look large. It still must be a prize catch!
**Aldo
Dorio got a frontal view of a NORTHERN PARULA WARBLER in an Oak tree at Hay
Island on Sunday showing its yellow breast and under lower mandible as well as
undertail marking.
Aldo
has also noted a pair of Eastern Bluebirds visit his yard in Neguac 6 times,
but no one has moved in yet. There still is lots of time for this species to
nest as some tend to start much later than others and some will nest twice,
especially if timing permits.
**I rather expected Brian Stone was not about to yield
on seeing the LEAST BITTERN [Petit
Blongios]. Sunday, he went back to Highland Park in Salisbury
once again to try his luck. He got there
at 7:15 a.m. and after a two-hour wait he got to see the Least Bittern fly
past, twice. ‘I got a good look in the binoculars and a poor flight photo
‘(Brian’s words). He never got to see it
standing or perched or in the open, but at least got a good view as it flew
past, and waited another hour, but no more sightings.
Brian also got a photo of a PIED-BILLED GREBE on its
nest on a vegetation hummock as they consistently do. He noted it off the nest
briefly later to see 5-6 eggs. These photos were taken from a long distance
away to leave no disturbance to the nesting bird. This opportunity for a photo
op seldom happens.
On May 25, Brian photographed many swallows at the
Arthur St. lagoon in Memramcook. One photo reattached today shows a BANK
SWALLOW in the middle of a trio. Note the smaller size compared to the Tree
Swallows aside it with the neck band and overall brownish with no hint of blue iridescence. Thank you to
those that pointed this out.
**We had a visit in our camp from the large FISHING
SPIDER aka RAFT SPIDER [Spider ratis], usually found around waterways or rafts
on lakes or bodies of water. This nicely
marked spider has the habit of taking a bubble of air under its belly and going
underwater to catch underwater critters as prey. It is the long, striped legs that make them
look so large. Jerry, one of our cats,
located this gem, to allow a rescue and photograph before Jerry and Pat got to
it. It is now more happily outside on
its mission; to Jerry’s disgust and Pat’s delight!
The cold nights have made the moth-attracter light a
quiet area, but one medium sized colourful moth, COMSTOCK’S SALLOW did drop by
and, easy to photograph on the cool morning.
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
