NATURE MONCTON NATURE INFORMATION LINE
Nov 29, 2021 (Monday)
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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
**Jane and Ed LeBlanc
were out for a walk early morning on November 28th, when they heard, then saw
three AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS checking them out.
At home, in
St. Martins the one PURPLE FINCH has brought his friends, so now there
are six to eight of them, both male and female or juvenile.
**Aldo Dorio’s visit to Hay
Island on Sunday morning provided him with a photo of a juvenile Great Blue
Heron appearing not particularly impressed with Sunday mornings weather.
Aldo also photographed some Bohemian Waxwings showing their very
distinct chestnut undertail coverts joined by American Robins.
**Bill Winsor was visiting the Taylor
Road near Salisbury on Sunday morning and came across a mixed flock of White-Winged
Crossbills and Pine Siskins. Very pleasant to see these two flocking
together enjoying the abundant treetop café of cone seeds.
**It’s
a great time for ’nest sleuthing’ as the nests of the past season our fresh,
still intact, and we can see them with the leave fall.
We really need to know the approximate diameter of the nests and the
depths of the bowl to make reasonable guesstimates. The appearance of the side
of the nest show its components and what it is shingled with is helpful for
sure but also important if possible to get a picture from the top to show what
the lining of the nest is prepared with.
A nice way in describing the size of the bowl of a nest is to compare it to
some familiar items like such as a golf ball, baseball, basketball, tablespoon,
or whatever item we could think of.
.The attached photo of a cloth tape that is very helpful and light to carry. I always
carry one to also measure scats and tracks. I get mine at Fabricville as they
are cloth and easy to work with. Probably other places have them as well but
the metal ones rust.
**Brian Stone went for a short walk in Mill Creek Park in Riverview on Sunday and saw little wildlife but managed a few photos of a GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET hopping happily through a bare tree looking for snacks. Nearby a RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH was doing the same in an even taller tree. Along the ground he found several patches of GROUND FROST poking up from the dirt and making the walking crunchy. At the Mill Creek Dam, he photographed some artistic ice-covered branches coated by the heavy mist coming from the rushing water over the dam. A small waterfall was beginning to show some interesting ice formations also. As the cold increases these formations should increase in size and beauty. A last photo on the way out was a colourful patch of ORANGE JELLY FUNGUS on a tree stump.
**The House
Finch are returning to my feeder yard. A male House Finch sat still momentarily
for a photograph on Sunday. I was able to take note of the more reddish colour
to the House Finch in comparison to the Purple Finch.
I am also
attaching photo of Red Osier Dogwood taken a few days ago now showing
the bright red stalks after the leave fall to give a flash of colour to the
season.
Nelson
Poirier
Nature
Moncton
