NATURE
MONCTON NATURE NEWS
Feb 1, 2022 (Tuesday)
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Edited by:
Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
**Fred and Sue Richards saw a RED FOX in a little gully on their Taylor Village property Monday morning. It looked to be taking advantage of a sunny, still day, although it appeared to be looking in one direction mostly. It sat looking away. It would get up and move within a few feet and sit again. Then it curled up in a ball and rested. In the pictures Susan took she noticed it seemed to have eye trouble and possibly have mange.
MONDAY was the day! The day the AMERICAN ROBINS decided it was the right day to
take all the Mountain Ash berries from one tree on their property.
It was -9°C outside and the day was sunny and calm with no wind. A beautiful
quiet day in Taylor Village. Around 2 p.m. there were bird sounds
chirping and tweeting and flapping of wings. The quiet became noisy with
the air full of birds chirping and wings flapping. Such a commotion!
The Robins were coming into the Mountain Ash tree in large groups one after another.
Then in a constant stream there was an invasion from all directions, over the
house, to the left, to the right, all of them landing in the Mountain Ash or on
the ground around it. They estimated 100+ birds. In short order, no more
than an hour, all the berries were gone from the tree. (Susan had to take this
photo when the birds were in a Forsythia tree, as she could not navigate the
snow to show the Mountain Ash tree) They all knew Monday was the day; they must
have a terrific communication system which is much better than 'tweet' on our
computers!
**With the quite special temperature we
had during the past days, Yves Poussart spotted an interesting situation
on Monday morning. At his home, a
series of butterfly stickers is located on the patio doors because
such stickers help to prevent collisions between birds and the glass
of the doors. Yves decided to take some photos of the FROST CRYSTALS developed
around them as this association presented a striking contrast between the
shape of the butterflies we enjoy seeing during the summer and the
harsh reality of the winter.
Amazing window frost creations!
**Cathy Simon has been catching up on a
backlog of photos on her camera. Although the window is quite dirty, the sun
was shining just right to show a reddish tinge to the usual gray plumage of an AMERICAN GOLDFINCH in December. There is a great photo gallery of the changes to
goldfinch feathers each month at the following link:
https://www.sibleyguides.com/2012/05/the-annual-plumage-cycle-of-a-male-american-goldfinch/
She spotted the petite
GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET in Mapleton Park on December 5, 2021.
A DARK-EYED JUNCO is making the
best of all the January snow in her front yard in Lutes Mountain.
**Brian
Stone escaped his apartment for a few hours on Monday to walk in the fresh air
at Irishtown Park. He entered the trails at the back end of the park where
people were less populous and hopefully wildlife might be more. Near the back
entrance he found a mixed group of WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS, AMERICAN
GOLDFINCHES, and PURPLE FINCHES feeding together in the same treetops.
Further along the trail birds were absent and only the scenery was available
for photos. Many SNOWSHOE HARE tracks were winding their way among the trees,
but none showed themselves as far as Brian could tell as the fresh white snow
was good cover for them.
**The New
Brunswick Environmental Network publishes a list of many Events/Presentations
taking place in New Brunswick for the upcoming month. They have just published
the list for February and some folks may want to participate. One can register
for any events directly from the list below and some have online links attached
to them.
The Nature
Moncton monthly presentation on Tuesday, February 15 is listed with all details
and link to join as is the Saint John Naturalists Club monthly presentation
taking place on Saturday, February 19. The complete list is attached below:
|
*Bob Blake
maintains daily weather statistics from his Second North River home yard plus
monthly precipitation. Bob shares a chart comparing January 2021 with January
2022.
Bob’s
records show January 2022 held some much cooler temperatures and greater precipitation
both as rain and snow. Bob’s chart is below as he forwarded it:
|
2021 |
2022 |
||
|
morning temperatures |
daily highs and rainfall |
morning temperatures |
daily highs and rainfall |
|
-15-2 days -13-1 -12-2 -10-1 -9-2 -8-2 -5-6 -4-4 -3-1 -2-2 0-3 37 cms. snow 10 mms. rain |
+2-5 +1-5 |
-28-1 -26-1 -23-1 -20-2 -19-1 -18-2 -16-1 -15-3 -14-2 -13-1 -11-2 -10-1 -8-2 -7-3 -6-1 -4-1 -3-2 -2-1 0-1 +3-1 +4-1 +6-1 144 cms. snow 28 mms. rain |
+8-1 +6-2 +5-2 +4-3 |
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
