Nature Moncton Nature News: Dec 22 2022

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

Dec 22, 2022

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Edited by Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

**Welcome to official winter with every day giving us just a bit more daylight until climaxing in June!

**Coordinator Yolande LeBlanc reports the Memramcook-Hillsborough CBC went off without a hitch on Monday, even with the snow and rain they had to contend with. It was not very cold.

They had 52 species on count day plus two special birds 2 days before and 2 days after the count. Some of the highlights were: 5 Northern Cardinals, Common Grackle, Long-tailed ducks, Black Scoter, Hermit Thrush, Orange-crowned Warbler, Marsh Wren, and 2 Killdeer with a Cooper's Hawk in Yolande's yard 2 days before count day. Marc LeBlanc found a Northern Mockingbird in Belliveau Village Wednesday morning to make 54 species in count week and the count day record of 52 species!

** Fred and Lynn Dube had two new arrivals to their Lower Coverdale yard on Wednesday when approximately 50 Evening Grosbeaks arrived. They also had Pine siskins come in which is the first of that species they have had in some time.

They also share some photos of a Red-throated Loon and a pair of Long-tailed Ducks they noted at the wharf just past Bouctouche Dune when cruising for the Steller’s Sea Eagle.

**Aldo Dorio photographed a soldierly lineup of Cattails at Hay Island with snow appropriately laid as a seasonal decoration.

**The now famous Sackville-located Green-tailed Towhee again took center stage on Wednesday!

Stella and Jean-Paul LeBlanc were lucky to be promptly rewarded with an audience with this very special visitor.

**After 3 days and about 8 hours of standing, Brian Stone finally got the little beauty Green-tailed Towhee perched in the clear long enough for an excellent photo on Wednesday morning. It has been visiting the section of the Sackville Waterfowl Park behind the Tantramar Regional High School over the last 5 days. This rare visitor has been very cooperative by hanging out in the same area long enough for many birders to get good views and photos and a slightly longer life list.

While Brian Stone was waiting for the rare Green-tailed Towhee to appear, he noticed a few interesting bird's nests and an interesting Rainbow that seemed to not be associated with nearby clouds.

After getting his Green-tailed Towhee photos he checked in on the Great Egret at the Lorne St. water retention ponds to find it looking good and actively feeding. A group of several Blue Jays looked on as he photographed it.

Brian then drove out to the coast and checked a few wharves with a photo of a Black Guillemot at the Pointe-du-Chene wharf (Editor’s note: it has been very pleasant to often get excellent photos of Black Guillemot in winter plumage which I do not recall as frequently in past years) and two 1^st Winter Iceland Gulls.

Brian noted 2 summer nests. One was small clementine-sized and seemed to have been sprayed with something like a varnish, maybe to protect and preserve it for some reason. Something educational? It was suspended from a crotch to suggest the possibility of a Vireo nest. Another grassy nest (grapefruit-sized) at another spot among the grasses could suggest a Red-winged Blackbird.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton