Nature Moncton Nature News: Dec 17 2022

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

Dec 17, 2022

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Edited by Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

**At the December Nature Moncton meeting on December 13, Gordon Rattray gave an excellent presentation showing many photos of New Brunswick plants, many of which exist only in a certain habitat.
Gordon shares his photo-packed PowerPoint presentation at the link below. A nice project to review on a snow day!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6wfknvbkimno6ad/Flowering%20plants%20-%20Gordon%20Rattray.pdf?dl=0

**John Inman had a very pleasant winter sparrow surprise to his Harvey feeder yard on Friday when a Lincoln’s Sparrow arrived.
This makes species number 200 for John’s feeder yard list!!

**We have been getting some nice photos of Black Guillemot in their winter plumage.
Aldo Dorio got an excellent photo of this species at the Neguac wharf on Friday in adult plumage.

**Peter Gadd reports there is a bright breeding plumage male Wood Duck chumming about with a few hundred Mallard Ducks, some Black Ducks, and a handful of Common Goldeneye at the Newcastle Water Treatment Plant in Miramichi. A handful of Northern Shovelers seems to have left on Tuesday. Peter got a documentary photo of the sharply dressed Wood Duck.

**Nelson Poirier photographed an American Tree Sparrow and a winter plumage Chipping Sparrow side-by-side at a feeder that shows some field marks to note between these two species.
The Chipping Sparrow is smaller and the dark eyeline extends right through the eye to the bill which can be a helpful field mark in sparrow identification. The American Tree Sparrow shows the rufous spot in front of the bend of the wing that can sometimes be helpful in some observations.