Nature Moncton Nature News: Nov 5 2022

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

November 5, 2022

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Edited by Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

**Petitcodiac River Appreciation Day is happening today (Saturday, Nov 5) from 7:45 AM until 3:00 PM. Grand prize draw at 3:00 PM

Tickets are still available for walk-ins at the door as well as anyone who may wish to purchase extra door prize tickets.

**Great to hear about the first arrivals of Pine Grosbeaks!

Clarence Cormier had 4 Pine Grosbeaks arrive to his Grande Dique site to enjoy some highbush Cranberries. Clarence comments “A small flock will annually show up in early November and always to that exact bush”. They all appeared to be female or immature males.

**Doreen Rossiter in Alma reports she had her first of the season American Tree Sparrow arrive on Friday. Our northern seasonal visitors are starting to arrive for their southerly vacations!

Doreen has also had a second Red-bellied Woodpecker arrive to join a female that has been present a few days. Doreen is not sure of the gender of the second arrival. She comments the known female patron has a taste for a peanut butter log.

**John Inman had even more interesting new arrivals to his Harvey, Albert County birdfeeder yard on Friday.

A new female Northern Cardinal arrived, and John is hoping it keeps the immature Northern Cardinal that has been present company. A Baltimore Oriole came by which was feeding on the ground with the goldfinch appearing like it was eating cracked corn. A male Red-bellied Woodpecker also arrived and was quite aggressive with the female Red-bellied Woodpecker already present.

If the reports of Red-bellied Woodpeckers and Northern Cardinals keep up, it looks like we are in for a great bird feeding winter!

**Yet another Red-bellied Woodpecker report from Rosita Lantigne. A male Red-bellied Woodpecker paid a visit to a feeder at St-Simon in Caraquet. It fed for 10 minutes.

** Brian Stone drove around the Salisbury and route 112 areas on Friday and sends some images of 2 male Hooded Mergansers that were swimming around in the Petitcodiac River by themselves in the section beside the Highland Park wetlands. He also visited a large scenic beaver pond beside the road on route 112 and took photos of the Beaver Lodge and the pond itself.

**In yesterday’s edition, some excellent photographs by Brian Stone were accidentally not included.

Brian’s commentary and those photos are attached today:

** Brian Stone sends a photo of a male Mallard Duck in flight (Editor’s note: note the clearly visible bright blue speculum bordered in white. The American Black Duck has a similar darker blue speculum bordered in black). A bright, red fall edition Blueberry Field caught Brian’s attention in Salisbury.

**Anna Tucker, like many others, enjoy visiting Mapleton Park in Moncton to be welcomed by the Red-breasted Nuthatch and Black-capped Chickadees waiting for-hand fed goodies.

**Nelson Poirier is nothing short of delighted to report a male Northern Cardinal arrived to join the female Northern Cardinal that has been coming for the past few days. It appeared at the very dying embers of light for a photograph but did indeed pose temporarily. The female appears quite content to feed from a hanging platform feeder while the male chose to forage on the ground.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton