Nature Moncton Nature News: Nov 20 2022

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

November 20 2022

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Edited by Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

**Most shorebirds are becoming a memory of the past season however, Barb Curlew was surprised to see a White-rumped Sandpiper in Waterside on Saturday, Nov 18. It was all alone except for the Snow Buntings and Horned Larks flying all around...unusual combination.

A very pleasant sounding observation!

**The Nature Moncton field trip to Port Elgin, Cape Tormentine, and Cape Jourimain went ahead on schedule on Saturday under picture-perfect skies very much enjoyed with a sizable group of keen sharp eyed and sharp eared participants.

The Chignecto Naturalists were also on their annual field trip in the general area and it was great to keep in contact by cell phone to share observations, activity, and fellowship.

Yves Poussart and Brian Stone did a fantastic job of photographing the days observations to make it a permanent memory.

Many seabirds were very pleasant eye candy. Red-throated Loons were in surprising numbers and very busy fueling up. Yves Poussart got an excellent photo of a Red-throated Loon enjoying an Atlantic Silverside fish prize (Alyre Chiasson confirmed). This is a very abundant small fish along our coast and no doubt a very important component of the winter diet of our coastal fish connoisseur birds.

A very elusive Northern Cardinal (s) was very enjoyed but successfully eluted the staff photographers!

A very friendly domestic cat wanted to join the group but its presence deemed inappropriate.

There were many large, uprooted trees noted resulting from Fiona’s recent visit.

The Chignecto group spotted a Snowy Owl being harassed by 2 terns at Cape Tormentine which the Nature Moncton group missed out on.

A perfect day of birding and great fellowship by both naturalist groups!

Brian Stone sends a few photos from the Nature Moncton Northumberland Coast outing on Saturday. Some of the birds seen were American Goldfinch, Blue Jay, Golden-crowned Kinglet, White-breasted Nuthatch, Bufflehead Ducks, Black Ducks, Great Blue Heron, Hairy Woodpecker, Rock Pigeons, and many Red-throated Loons. Brian also includes an example of a commonly seen optical illusion over the water called an Inferior Mirage. A section of the distant coastline appears to be floating above the water as the land and sky have been "copied" and inverted resulting in the illusion of a floating island.

**Neil Vinson leaves some interesting comments on the handling of leaf fall in our yards in follow-up to recent comments. He directs us to the website that explains very well. Check it out at the link below:

https://xerces.org/leave-the-leaves

**Long-tailed Ducks are joining us for the winter in pleasant numbers off our coast. Aldo Dorio is seeing and photographing them off Hay Island.

** Leon Gagnon sends a few more photos of groups of assembled shorebirds on Miscou Island as of October 11. Groups of varying sizes of shorebirds rested on the beaches south of Wilson Point.

An Evening Grosbeak was observed near their cottage on October 12 and Rusty Blackbirds were seen near the cottage and also in a pond near the large dune south of Wilson Point.

Leon has now left his happy place on Miscou Island for his winter quarters in Montréal and wishes us all happy winter birding.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton