Nature Moncton Nature News: March 29 2022

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

March 29, 2022 (Tuesday)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

**Three Sandhill Cranes have been seen in the area of the juncture of Parsons Road and route 16 in Jolicure.

Also, an Eurasian Wigeon has been reported at the Sackville Waterfall Park. No photos have been shared with this site as yet.

**It is not too early to get those nest boxes up or cleaned for spring. Dale Gaskin in Dawson Settlement was pleased to see his first Eastern Bluebird of the season in his yard perusing a woodpile for potential insect fare.

Dale routinely gets Eastern Bluebirds nesting on his property each season but thinks it is the first time he has seen one this early in the season. There’s always the chance it could be an overwintering bird, but chances are it is an advanced guard male.

**Roger LeBlanc is now producing maple syrup for their own use. He points out this is a very small production where they start the boiling process outside on a propane burner (it means boiling off 39 liters of sap water to produce 1 liter of syrup) and finish it inside on the stove.

On Sunday evening as they were going out every hour or so to add sap water to the pan, they started hearing Black Scoters flying above the house around 21:00h. They were coming from the southwest and going to the northeast so clearly from the Bay of Fundy to the Northumberland Strait. It kept going at least until they stopped bringing in sap around midnight. The huge sea duck migration has started.

**Gordon Rattray had some new activity at his Weldon feeders on Monday. He had a first of year visit from two Evening Grosbeaks and a first ever visit of a House Finch. Other activity at Gordon’s yard were Common Grackles, joined by several Red-winged Blackbirds. On the ground an Eastern Chipmunk has come out of hibernation to feed at the bottom of the feeders. Downy Woodpeckers are in courtship with a pair staying together at the feeders. A visit to the Gray Brook area located some Mallard Ducks with a significant amount of open water.

**We are getting lots of Common Grackles arriving at the moment and a close look will note the males are the first to arrive. We don’t tend to note the dimorphic plumage of this species. Aldo Dorio got close-up photos of Common Grackles in his Neguac yard to show the blue fluorescence on the wing which the females would lack. Gordon Rattray’s photo also clearly shows this feature.

**While putting out his nightly ration of peanut butter for his Flying Squirrels at his Second North River home, Bob Blake noted a flock of Canada Geese that flew over loudly vocalizing.

**Annika Chaisson with The New Brunswick Environmental Network provides a list of presentations she is aware of taking place in New Brunswick in April . That list is attached below, and some events can be registered for from that list. Unfortunately, the Nature Moncton presentation on April 19 with Laura Tranquilla from Bird studies Canada is not listed as Laura has not yet submitted a write up.

Naturalists may want to note online events on April 1 on shrub and tree ID and April 6 on animal track and sign.

Upcoming Events for the Month of April