NATURE
MONCTON NATURE NEWS
March 17,
2022 (Thursday)
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Edited by:
Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
**Doreen Rossiter reports Common
Grackles arrived to her Alma yard on Wednesday morning. A group of 15 arrived early
morning. Later in the day, 10 Red-winged Blackbirds arrived.
The advance guard has definitely arrived!
Doreen rather expects large flocks of song sparrows to
arrive shortly.
**Jamie Burris has some recent photos to share. First photo is a Bald Eagle sunning itself on the pack ice of the Petitcodiac River near Salisbury.
They recently had a flock of 4 House Finch (2 males and 2 females) visit their Riverview backyard, the first they have seen in their yard since last summer. A very sharp looking male posed.
With all the Pine Siskins being posted
lately and some discussion about the yellow on the wings, Jamie comments he had
to share 2 photos. In the first photo one can see the yellow on the outer wing.
The second frame shows the beautiful lemon yellow of underwing which he has
never seen before and am sure others may not have either so just had to share!
(Editor’s note: this again shows the variability of yellow in the plumage of
the species. The literature suggests it is not a reliable indicator of gender as one would think would be the case)
**Fred Richards has noted a Red-tailed Hawk lingering
around his Taylor Village property for a couple of days. Fred thinks he
would like to meet some of the neighborhood chickens. They were away for a bit and
it was on a post holding a nesting box when they got home.
**Brian and Annette Stone walked some of the trails
in the White Rock Recreational area in Hillsborough on Wednesday and found the
weather to be quite pleasant with reasonable temperatures. The trails were a
bit icy but mostly walkable with care. Brian noticed many more birds present
this time, but most were very high in the tall trees (very tall trees) and did
not show well for photography.
There were flocks of American Goldfinch,
Pine Siskins, White-winged Crossbills, many Black-capped
Chickadees and Red-breasted Nuthatches. A large Raven flew
overhead that Brian initially thought was a large hawk by the way it glided
without flapping. (Editor’s note: the Raven routinely glides to help
differentiate it from a crow as well as the wedge-shaped tail of the Raven
showing in Brian’s photo)
A Pine Siskin was photographed collecting
nesting material which brings thoughts of spring to mind. Red-belted Polypore fungus and Lung Lichen were also photographed to round out the outing.
The
Red-belted Polypore mushroom in Brian’s photo does not have its red belt front
yet as it is a young specimen.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
