Nature Moncton Nature News: May 5 2022

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

May 5, 2022 (Thursday)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

**Lynn Dube sends photos of Honeybees that are very attracted to

 her Snow Glory and Hyacinth plants that are in blazing bloom.

 Lynn has a large number of spring cultivars planted around their

 home that attract large numbers of Honeybees which suggest

 there may be an active hive nearby.

Lynn also captured a photo of a male Dark-eyed Junco sharply

 dressed in its grey and white 'business suit.'

**Frank branch photographed a male Eurasian Wigeon in Tracadie at the city water treatment lagoon on Wednesday morning. There is also a second Eurasian Wigeon that Frank saw on Wednesday morning at the city treatment lagoon in Caraquet. A duo of Eurasian Wigeons in one day makes for a good day!

**Anna Tucker spent the past few days in her favourite room at Comfort Inn in Truro. The last time she visited, the Bald Eagles were on their nest that she can see from her room. For some reason on this visit there were no signs of life at the nest. It appears to have been abandoned.

Anna did visit an Osprey nest built on a man-made structure at nearby North River.

She also enjoyed and photographed the slender crescent Moon that appeared after midnight on Monday night/Tuesday morning.

**Catherine Hamilton comments warblers are starting to arrive in number getting some nice photographs of some on a drive to Corn Hill on Tuesday and she also spotted a Coyote on the drive Tuesday evening.

Palm Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and Palm Warbler cooperated nicely for Catherine’s lens.

**Jill Greening who tunes into Nature News from

 Edam, Saskatchewan sends a photo of the surprising number of

 Purple Finch that have suddenly arrived in her backyard feeder yard. Both genders appear well represented in Jill’s photo.

**On Monday Brian Stone walked a couple kilometers of the Dobson

 Trail at the Prosser Brook Rd. to the Prosser Ridge Lookout. He

photographed a few examples of False Morel Mushroom and some

 plants such as Pipsissewa. Not many birds came close enough for a

 photo, but he managed to get a Dark-eyed Junco, a Pine Siskin, a

 Yellow-rumped Warbler, a female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and a

 Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Birds seen but not photographed were a

Hermit Thrush, and a White-throated Sparrow.

Mining Bees were keeping Coltsfoot Flowers company out along

the edges of the road. Brian watched a pair of Yellow-bellied

Sapsuckers chase each other in circles through the trees right on the

 Prosser Brook Rd. for 20 minutes before leaving to head for home.

 Brian wonders how long they would keep up this type of activity

 before taking a break.

On Tuesday Brian Stone visited the Riverview Marsh trail and surrounding areas in search of Sandhill Cranes reported in flight by Brian Coyle but did not locate them. He did note a male and female Ring-necked Pheasant walking together up a side path and some Tree Swallows performing their aerial acrobatics around the TransAqua installation. A male House Finch was also on the TransAqua grounds but like the swallows decided to not get photographed. A female Red-winged Blackbird popped up out of the reeds long enough to pose for a photo, and a tree along the trail appeared to have had its base excavated by some anonymous critter.

Brian also stopped in at Mapleton Park to check on the recently erected nest boxes but did not see any swallows or any signs of activity around the boxes. He did photograph some of the Yellow-rumped Warblers that were feeding along the edge of the pond. As it began to rain Brian put the camera away and just observed the female Hooded Merganser and male Wood Ducks in the pond, and the Belted Kingfisher still patrolling the area. Alongside the main trail at the Gorge Rd. end of the park Brian noticed that the edges of the trail were carpeted with Coltsfoot Flowers, many more than he had ever seen there before. He also took note of Field Horsetail plants having made an appearance.