Nature Moncton Nature News: Nov 21 2022

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

November 21, 2022

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Edited by Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

**After closely examining his photos of the group of birds feeding in the trail at Cape Jourimain, Yves Poussart has been able to identify an AMERICAN TREE SPARROW.

The Dark-eyed Juncos and the Song sparrows were not the only ones to feed on the trail.

Follow-up: The RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER (female) is still visiting Yves’ yard.

He attaches a photo of it that he took on Sunday at 11:30 Sunday, the 6th consecutive day looking like it’s going to be a keeper.

Yves comments “it would be nice to get the male now if he starts to dream to the next emotion.

**On Sunday, Clarence Cormier had 3 PINE GROSBEAKS (grosbec des pins) arrive at a yard Tamarack tree eating the small cones and then flew in lower to a more wooded area happily eating Bittersweet Nightshade berries. (Editor’s note: Bittersweet Nightshade is reported in the literature as toxic however, many fruit eating bird connoisseurs seem to have no problem with it).

After Kendra Driscoll’s presentation on lichens, Clarence Cormier correctly identified the Maritime Sunburst Lichen (Xanthoria parietina) on a tree in his yard. This lichen normally has a lot fruiting bodies on it but Kendra pointed out it would appear they have been consumed by possibly an invertebrate.

**Gordon Rattray has been getting some new visitors at his Weldon yard. On Saturday Gordon had his first of season visit from a group of Evening Grosbeaks and Gordon also got photos of a male and female Downy Woodpeckers.

On Sunday while having his morning coffee just at daybreak Gordon was joined by many birds; seems snow on the ground got the birds coming to feeders. Gordon’s morning visitors included a first for his yard, a Norther Cardinal female or young of the year, it was too dark for pictures and dim for features. The cardinal ground fed under two different feeders. Gordon also had a first of season visit from a White-throated Sparrow. The lineup also included regulars- Dark-eyed Junco, American Goldfinch, Brown Creeper, White-breasted Nuthatch, Red-breasted Nuthatches in large numbers, Black-capped Chickadees in large numbers, Hairy Woodpecker- male and female and the usual Mourning Doves and Blue Jays who were hogging the feeders.

**For some reason, Evening Grosbeaks only arrived to the feeder yard of Wayne Corcoran on Sunday. This is not the normal as Wayne was getting large flocks of Evening Grosbeaks coming to his Chelmsford feeder yard in numbers even in those lean years when the rest of us were not getting any. No doubt the dozen that arrived yesterday will soon swell into a large flock.

**Brian Stone shares a few more photos from the Saturday Nature Moncton outing along the Northumberland Coast. An American Tree Sparrow and a Dark-eyed Junco were picking at the roadway together at a spot in the Cape Spear area on the way to Cape Tormentine where he made a distant panorama of the P.E.I. bridge. At Cape Tormentine, a Herring Gull was seen enjoying its his crab lunch on a sandbar and a pair of Long-tailed Ducks swam close to one of the wharves. Further along at Cape Jourimain Brian couldn't resist taking another panoramic photo of the Confederation bridge.

**Back on Friday Brian Stone drove along the coast from Shediac To Petit Cap, and then home through Sackville and Memramcook, and sends some photos of the life he encountered. At Pointe-du-Chene he photographed a male and female pair of Long-tailed Ducks swimming and diving in the enclosed marina area. At the Niles St. wharf he took pictures of some Gulls at varying states of developing and adult plumage, including a tightly grouped flock of Bonaparte's Gulls resting on the beach with their heads neatly tucked in. An adult male Common Eider was perching out of the water, maybe needing a little drying time. A group of nearly a dozen Double-crested Cormorants was at the beach also but decided to take to the water rather than hang around and be seen. Several Red-throated Loons were easily handling the rough water at the Petit Cap wharf. At Dupuis Corner a young looking White-tailed Deer was grazing unconcernedly beside the road as traffic flowed past.

At Memramcook the lagoon was crowded with 30 plus Ruddy Ducks along with a mix of other ducks including Northern Shovelers, Mallards, Common Goldeneyes and at least one female Bufflehead Duck. They all did their best to keep their distance from the viewing blind except for one Ruddy Duck that cooperatively swam in for a close up.

**A heads up on Nature Moncton field trip scheduled for next Saturday, November 26 with weather challenge date. The activities committee tries to schedule events not back to back weekends but whether changed plans.

All details below to be repeated later in the week:

NATURE MONCTON FIELD TRIP – RAPTORS IN THE TANTRAMAR

Date: Saturday, November 26^th (rain date: Sunday, November 27^th)

Time: 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM

Meeting Place: The Tourist Information Centre at the end of Mallard Drive, Sackville.

Guides: Roger Leblanc and Louise Nichols

Are you someone who is interested in learning more about identification of hawks and other raptors? Would you like to learn ways to distinguish one species from another even if they are viewed at a distance with a scope? If so, this outing will give you the chance to see some of these birds and learn some helpful hints on how to ID them.

No doubt, birds of prey are a fascinating part of the birding world and one of the best places to see them in winter is the Tantramar Marsh near Sackville. By the end of November, some of the bigger hawks, harriers and eagles can all be seen hunting for prey. Red-tailed Hawks can usually be found in this area -- and by this time, Rough-legged Hawks, some of which spend the winter with us, have usually returned. In addition to these hawk species, Bald Eagles are in abundance and, if you’re lucky, perhaps a Golden Eagle, one of which was present in this area for a number of consecutive years. Also, some years you can still find some lingering Northern Harriers looking for food in the marsh as well as Short-eared Owls. As winter approaches, it may even be possible to spot a Snowy Owl in the fields attracted there by the same “all you can eat rodent buffet” created by the grain left in the fields. And then there is always a possible surprise visitor.

So. If you’re interested in learning more about raptors and seeing some in action, join us on November 26^th (rain date, the 27^th) for this outing. We will meet at the Tourist Information Centre in Sackville where we can arrange some carpooling to travel out to High Marsh Rd and some of the other marsh roads in Sackville. Bring binoculars and a scope if you have one and bring a snack or lunch as we will continue into the early part of the afternoon.

All are welcome, Nature Moncton member or not.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton