NATURE
MONCTON NATURE NEWS
Feb 12, 2022 (Saturday)
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Edited by:
Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
** Louise Nichols tried for the Varied Thrush in Dorchester on Saturday. When she first arrived, the thrush was not present, so she continued on to Johnson's Mills which was quiet except for the regular species. She returned to the Dorchester site and she, along with a few other birders, was able to see the Varied Thrush a number of times as it travelled through the two yards it has been occupying, but it was always half obscured behind tree branches. In a lucky moment, the bird flew out of its hiding spot in the large spruce and landed on the grass where it stayed with a group of robins to provide very nice views. When the Varied Thrush wasn't on site, the birders present were entertained by a group of Snow Buntings coming to cracked corn in the back of the yard.
Louise was
glad to finally see it today as she had tried for it on Monday with no luck!
** On Thursday afternoon, Yves Poussart made a stop at the Foch Bridge in Shediac to check for the presence of marine ducks. The size of the open water area is still quite small on the south side and the total number of birds was about 25. As a consequence of the small open water area, the birds are not as far out, providing a better chance to get good photos at a closer range. When such favourable conditions are present, Yves cannot resist for long to take advantage of their presence. Several photos of Common Goldeneye (Garrot à œil d'or), Barrow's Goldeneye (Garrot d'Islande), and Common Merganser (Grand harle) were captured. (Editors note: note the more orange/red colouration of the crest in the Common Merganser compared to the more brownish crest of a Red-breasted Merganser. Another interesting point to note can be seen on Yves’ flight photo of the Common Goldeneye from the rear. If this had been a Barrow’s Goldeneye, there would have been a narrow but obvious black band across the white patch to where the arrow points in both genders)
As
expected, a good number of Rock pigeon (Pigeon biset)
and Mallard Ducks (Canard colvert) were also present.
**Ducks Unlimited has very kindly donated 6 duck next boxes to be used by interested Nature Moncton members. There are still 4 waiting in Fredericton to be delivered to Moncton. Anyone coming from that direction is asked to advise Nelson Poirier for directions so they can be picked up ready for delivery.
I was able
to get one up on Saturday and erected it near a small
body of water off a woods road near Sunny Corner. What a beautiful spring-like day to do it. We were able to locate a tree slanted just right to let young
easily navigate out of the box and in a southerly exposure. We are hoping there
will be occupants as we are planning to set up a trail camera on it as is Brian
Donovan in the Miramichi area with another nest box.
It has been
reported Coyote numbers are lower this year but the area was very busy
with trails as it is mating time and even one busy pair can make for lots of
trails. The snow level was high to create a trail of heavy foot drag to
obliterate tracks.
There were
many White-tailed Deer in a more urban area of Sunny Corner. There were
many trails the deer were using to compensate for the snow level up to their
belly in many cases. They were in excellent body condition, no doubt due to the
offerings of several local households.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
