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Editor: Nelson Poirier    Proofreader: Louise Nichols

Wednesday 12 January 2022

Jan 12 2022

NATURE MONCTON NATURE INFORMATION LINE

 Jan 12, 2022 (Wednesday)

 

 

 

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

 

 

 **During this period of even more isolation than we would prefer, it’s a good time to show the birds at our feeder yards and what types of food and feeders they are using. The cold weather will no doubt bring on additional patrons.

 

**John Inman got a few more photos of the female Rusty Blackbird that has been patronizing his Mary’s Point Road feeder yard this season. He also shares a photo of an immature Red-winged Blackbird showing its vibrant colours that also is remaining in his feeder yard.

 

**Jane LeBlanc had put some no longer used Christmas ornaments out in her St. Martins yard for the birds to enjoy. One has a hole in the middle, so she filled it with peanut butter and sunflower seeds. Tuesday, she caught a Black-capped Chickadee eating the (now frozen) peanut butter. She also noted it was very nice, on a day like Tuesday, to be taking pictures inside, looking out! It surely was cold.

 

**Pat Gibbs was able to get 3 photographs of a Sharp-shinned Hawk in her Moncton yard. This is an interesting specimen showing both vertical and horizontal streaking on the chest and the yellow eye to suggest it may still be an immature bird taking on mature plumage. There is also still a lot of brown tones in the plumage.

 

**Clarence Cormier sends a photo of what he feels fairly confident to be a Cooper’s Hawk noting a very significant size differential from the Sharp-shinned Hawks he is very used to seeing on his Grande Digue property monitoring the very abundant American Robin presence. Clarence is disappointed that one of his House Finch has gone missing but not surprised due to the raptor presence.

 

**Brian Stone drove to Cap Lumiere once more in the hopes of finding more life there to photograph than the last few times he was there. But all that was close enough to photograph were the same 3 female LONG-TAILED DUCKS that were there the last times he was there and a lone male COMMON EIDER DUCK that looked cold with ice on its chest feathers. A few GULLS were hovering in the frosty breeze, handling the extreme cold much better than Brian's fingers which came close to frostbite and are still tender to the touch.

 

At the other wharves along the way to Pointe-du-Chene, Brian only managed some distant photos of a COMMON GOLDENEYE DUCK and 2 BARROW'S GOLDENEYE DUCKS. Most of the water in all the areas was frozen over with just a few patches open at some spots.

 At Cocagne Brian photographed some AMERICAN ROBINS feasting on Mountain Ash berries in trees alongside the road.

 

 

 

**Pat and I did a Sunday afternoon cruise of the Shediac and Cocagne area. The Grande Digue area was teeming with American Robins enjoying the bountiful crop of Mountain Ash berries.

It was very pleasant to watch a mixed flock of American robins and Cedar Waxwings enjoying the Mountain Ash fruit in the front yard of a home beside the main road. The waxwing flock numbered approximately 40 and no Bohemian Waxwings were noted among them. Cedar Waxwings seem to be overwintering in New Brunswick much more recently, especially when food is abundant as it is this year. They were very active and ignoring the bitter cold of Sunday.

Common Mergansers were grouped at the diminishing areas of open water at Foch Bridge in Shediac.

 

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

                                                                                           

CEDAR WAXWINGS. JAN 11, 2022. NELSON POIRIER

CEDAR WAXWINGS AND AMERICAN ROBIN. JAN 11, 2022. NELSON POIRIER

CEDAR WAXWINGS. JAN 11, 2022. NELSON POIRIER

AMERICAN ROBIN. JAN. 11, 2022., BRIAN STONE

AMERICAN ROBIN. JAN. 11, 2022., BRIAN STONE

AMERICAN ROBINS. JAN 11, 2022. NELSON POIRIER

RUSTY BLACKBIRD (FEMALE). JAN 11, 2022. JOHN INMAN

RUSTY BLACKBIRD (FEMALE). JAN 11, 2022. JOHN INMAN

RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD (MALE). JAN 11, 2022. JOHN INMAN

SHARP-SHINNED HAWK (IMMATURE). JAN 11, 2022.  PAT GIBBS

SHARP-SHINNED HAWK (IMMATURE). JAN 11, 2022.  PAT GIBBS

SHARP-SHINNED HAWK (IMMATURE). JAN 11, 2022.  PAT GIBBS

COOPER'S HAWK. JAN 11, 2011. CLARENCE CORMIER

HAIRY WOODPECKER. JAN 11, 2022. JANE LeBLANC

BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE. JAN 11, 2022. JANE LeBLANC

BARROW'S GOLDENEYE DUCKS (MALES). JAN. 11, 2022. BRIAN STONE

COMMON GOLDENEYE DUCK (MALE). JAN. 11, 2022. BRIAN STONE

COMMON EIDER (IMMATURE MALE). JAN. 11, 2022. BRIAN STONE

LONG-TAILED DUCK (FEMALE). JAN. 11, 2022.. BRIAN STONE

LONG-TAILED DUCKS (FEMALE). JAN. 11, 2022.. BRIAN STONE

ICELAND GULL. JAN. 11, 2022.. BRIAN STONE

COMMON MERGANSERS. JAN 11, 2022. NELSON POIRIER