NATURE
MONCTON NATURE NEWS
March 16,
2022 (Wednesday)
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Edited by:
Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
**A big thank you to Ryan Danby who joined the Nature
Moncton meeting virtually from his Ontario lab on Tuesday evening to share with
us his time studying the Caribou herds of northern North America and how
they are changing and why. He shared some revealing and surprising information
of how the landscape and the Caribou herds are changing their patterns of
movement and foraging over the past 20 years.
This presentation was recorded and the link to view it is below:
The presenter has asked this link be removed after one month.
**Judith Dewar was snowshoeing in the
woods behind her home in Fredericton when they found feathers that iNaturalist
identified as Great Horned Owl and this was verified by another member.
It’s a very active time of year for owls.
**Anna
Tucker sends another photo of the House Sparrows that have a territory
in bushes at the corner of Alma and Church St. in Moncton near her home. The
photo she sends is of a female House Sparrow. The genders of the species are
dimorphic.
**Pine
siskins have not been regular patrons to birdfeeder yards this season assumedly
due to the very abundant cone crop. A pair of Pine Siskins appeared at the Simon
family's feeders for the first time this season on Tuesday to pose for a
portrait.
**The advance guard of Tree Swallows usually
arrive in early April and will often immediately check out nest boxes, then
forage for a few weeks and return to them. It’s time to get them erected as soon as possible (or last season's boxes cleaned out) over the next few weeks to be ready for patrons.
Fred
Dube is taking a very active role in getting Nature Moncton nest boxes erected.
Fred has taken on a project to erect 10 nest boxes at the White Birch Lagoon in
Lower Coverdale which attracts many swallows but has a lack of nest boxes. A series
of photographs is attached to show his method for those who may wish to erect
nest boxes in an area with no posts available. He purchased 7 foot long painted
green T-bars at Tri Province Enterprises at 131 Toombs Street in Moncton ($12.47),
attaches the nest boxes to the top of the bars with a D-ring(size photographed)
purchased at Home Hardware. The pointed-at-one-end bars are driven 2 feet+
into the ground. It is not a big job as holes can be drilled in the box before
going to the field. The boxes are sprayed with pyrethrin/permethrin 0.05% to control fleas arriving on adults and a tablespoon of Diatomaceous Earth tossed in box to remove hatching fleas over the nesting period.
White
Birch lagoon is a nearby site many of us neglect to visit. It is very
attractive to ducks, swallows, and also warblers and sparrows in the
surrounding marsh and bushes. Shorebirds are attracted later.
It
is located by driving 8.8 km down Hillsborough Road from the Gunningsville Bridge
and taking Marcombe St. (on left) .9 km to where the street makes a right turn.
The walkway to the lagoon is at that corner. It's a normally neglected birding spot that should be visited this coming season. It will be on the agenda for one of Nature Moncton’s
Wednesday evening outings.
**There
are still 5 spots left for the Nature Moncton visit to the Earthship inspired
house this coming Saturday. Details below:
NATURE
MONCTON OUTING
TOUR OF AN
EARTHSHIP INSPIRED HOUSE
DATE: Saturday March 19, 2022
PLACE:
Memramcook (see address below)
TIME: 1:30 pm
Have you ever wondered if it would be
rough to live off the grid in harmony with nature? No water main? No Hydro? Well, wonder no longer. Come out on Saturday March 19, 2022 at 1:30
for a guided tour of a wonderful off grid, sustainable, green home designed and
built according to the Earthship model -- a passive solar home built with
natural and upcycled materials. If time permits,
we can go for a walk in the area following the tour. This new home is located at 16 Rockland No. 1
Road, Taylor Village. NB. There will be a limit of 20 people (two
groups of 10). If you would like to come
to this activity please contact fredrichards@rogers.com
, susan_richards@rogers.com
or phone 506-334-0100 to reserve a spot.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
