Nature Moncton Nature News: April 18 2022

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

April 18, 2022 (Monday)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

**Bill and Norma Eaton had some surprise visitors to their birdfeeders on Sunday morning when 2 White-tailed Deer dropped by for a snack. The Eatons live on Turnberry Ct. in northwest Moncton.

White-tailed Deer are tending to act like urban goats in some areas of New Brunswick such as St. Andrews and Quispamsis. Are they considering Moncton?

**Fred Dube was able to capture a distant photo of a Merlin surveying their birdfeeder yard on Sunday. They have been seeing a very injured Mourning Dove that seems to be doing well despite its injury. They wonder if the Merlin may have been the perpetrator. It would seem very large prey for a Merlin; however, the Merlin is a very pugnacious bird predator. (Editor’s note: note the wide dark tail bands contrasting the narrow white bands and the single ‘moustache’ band to suggest a Merlin)

** Spring is in the air, and already one of the emblematic birds of the season, the Tree Swallows, have been reported. Later other members of the swallow group will follow. Now all swallow species, as other aerialists (birds that mostly feed in flight), are facing very important conservation challenges and one way we can help is by offering them nesting structures. For Tree Swallows building and putting up a swallow box is relatively easy (Nature Moncton has been offering some to the public for several years now). But for its cousin the Cliff Swallow things are more complicated. Cliff Swallows are much more selective and build their own nesting structure out of mud they model like a kind of inverted pot that they attach on the side of a structure (see image with one artificial and two natural nests built over it) like a house or a bridge. But if you want to add to an existing Cliff Swallow colony or attract some to your neck of the woods, building one of those structures is next to impossible unless you are a potter. And although they have been available to buy in the past, they are now next to impossible to find. But don’t despair! Master potter Gerry Collins (see the photo of artist below with this year's production) with the instructions of our own Roger Leblanc has produced a limited number, and if you are interested in acquiring some please reach out to Roger at parus@nb.sympatico.ca .They will be going for 10$ each and 20$ for 3. And if you purchase them Roger can help with instructions on where and how to place them. But numbers are limited, and time is of the essence.

**I am not sure how widespread it was but Moncton experienced a wild and sudden hailstorm on Sunday. Oddly, the sun came out bright as it was ending. Brian Stone couldn’t resist taking a video of the short-lived action from his home window. Check it out at the link below:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/bbs6ci5ha2yyvcj/HAIL.%20APRIL%2017%2C%202022.%20BRIAN%20STONE.mp4?dl=0

**Eric Wilson helped Roger LeBlanc build a Wood Duck nest box on Saturday. They decorated the interior with wood shavings. They erected and knighted it Sunday afternoon 7 feet up on the vernal pond in Eric’s backyard woods. They trimmed trees around to keep out Grey Squirrels and it’s out of eye shot of European Starlings.

They faced it northeast to stay out of direct sun and prevailing wind. Eric will advise if he gets a Wood Duck family.

They saw a Golden-crowned Kinglet give its stunning crested display while placing the nest box.

** Brian Stone sends a few more photos from his outing on Saturday. At the Arthur St. lagoon in Memramcook he took pictures of a pair of male and female Bufflehead Ducks, some male and female Northern Shoveler Ducks, an American Kestrel at the distant edge of the lagoon perching on the fence and nest box, a Northern Flicker, and a Bald Eagle on a power pole. Brian also saw a male and female Long-tailed Duck there. (Editor’s note: we don’t very often see a Long-tailed Duck out of water in New Brunswick. Note group of ducks photo with arrow.)

At the nearby Reid McManus Nature Reserve pond Brian photographed a Canada Goose sitting on a nest, a male and female Northern Pintail Duck, a Muskrat, and a female Hooded Merganser tucked in for a nap.

** Brian Stone’s sister Carol Shea at Upham sends a photo of a turkey in her yard guarding her feeders on Saturday. It stayed there all day keeping an eye on things and keeping her away from the feeders!

Tomorrow night, Tuesday night, April 19 is Nature Moncton monthly meeting night to start virtually at 7:00 PM.

The write up and link to join the meeting is below:

NATURE MONCTON APRIL MEETING

April 19^th, 2022 at 7:00 PM

Virtual Meeting

Leach’s Storm Petrel in Atlantic Canada: Status, Research, and Conservation

Presenter: Laura McFarlane Tranquilla

Leach’s Storm Petrels are robin-sized, dusky-grey seabirds that spend nearly all their lives far out to sea, coming to offshore colonies during the summer months to lay eggs and raise chicks. This seabird has a global distribution, occurring in both Pacific and Atlantic oceans; and we can be proud that the world’s largest colony, at ~2 million pairs, is in Atlantic Canada, on Newfoundland’s Baccalieu Island. However, despite being one of the most common seabirds in the North Atlantic, Leach’s storm petrel populations are in trouble. Declines on Baccalieu Island (estimated ~ 42% decline, from 3.4 to 1.9 million pairs over 29 years) and at other colonies in the North Atlantic have caused the species to be listed in 2016 on the IUCN red list as “vulnerable” , and as “threatened” in 2019 with COSEWIC (2020). The trouble is, though the species faces a number of threats, there is no single threat that stands out to explain this dramatic decline. This talk outlines the biology of Leach’s Storm Petrels, the conservation threats they face, and ongoing efforts in Atlantic Canada to study and monitor this interesting seabird.

Join at the following link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86309429728?pwd=R2dRZkxscnA2MEdBd2lWcUxiWTBlQT09

All are welcome, Nature Moncton member or not.

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton