NATURE MONCTON NATURE INFORMATION LINE
Jan 11, 2022 (Tuesday)
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Edited by:
Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
**John Massey got a photograph of 3 buck White-tailed Deer that roamed into his Dieppe yard. Two appear to be yearling spike horns while a third one would appear to be a 2-year-old. The 2-year-old appears to have normal antlers that soon will drop off. The 2 younger animals have some variation that led to a consult with Joe Kennedy, the provincial DNR deer biologist.
Joe commented
“they all should be shedding soon. It's not unusual to see irregular antlers in
yearlings. He wonders if the 2 yearlings are siblings, both with smaller right
antlers. Joe sees
yearlings from the Kennebecasis Valley with antlers like this often. The
small antlers are an indicator of limited food (i.e., exceeded carrying
capacity) or stress during winter. They should have typical antlers next fall.”
**Since the snowstorm Gordon Rattray has seen
an upturn in birds at his Weldon feeder station. In the last two days,
Gordon has had as new visitors being an American
Tree Sparrow and a Ring-necked
Pheasant each day. He continues to have regular visits from a Brown Creeper and a female Downy Woodpecker. The big flocks
continue with 30+ Mourning Doves and 25 to 30 American Goldfinch,
Black-capped Chickadees and Blue Jays complete the daily visits.
**Since
late December 2021, Clarence Cormier has been having 100s of American Robins enjoying the Mountain
Ash berries and occasionally the Burning Bush berries at his Grande Digue site.
Now he is noting them checking out the nyger seeds (photo attached) placed for
the other birds.
A raptor shows up almost daily chasing the American Robins. He had a
larger raptor arrive on Monday he wondered if it may have been a Cooper’s Hawk.
Other birds still present are: 1 Song Sparrow, 1 House Finch
(the Sharp-shinned Hawk has been a nonstop threat), 25 American Tree Sparrows, (editors note:
a high number for one feeder yard) approximately 12 American Goldfinch and
a flock of 50+ waxwings, appearing like they may be Cedar Waxwings but will
watch closely to confirm that.
**Brian Stone visited the Gorge Rd. end of Mapleton Park
to check out the ducks for any special visitors but found nothing out of the
ordinary. As he stood watching the ducks someone arrived with a bag of seeds
and Brian made a video of the frantic rush to get their fill. He also found one
nice example of natural ice sculpture in the creek.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mx17sxfk1bcg1zs/MALLARD%20DUCK%20MOBBING.m
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
