Nature Moncton Nature News: Dec 31 2022

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

Dec 31, 2022

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Edited by Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Proofreading thanks to Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

**On Friday, December 30, Barb Curlew photographed a Savannah Sparrow on the Long Marsh near their Waterside home. It has been very secretive, and this was the third day that Barb had tried to view it. Barb notes its bright yellow superciliary stripe, bold belly stripes, largish bill, and its late date appearance.

**Bob and Sharon Blake have 3 male Northern Cardinals becoming regular patrons at their Second North River feeder yard. They appear to be primarily attracted to cracked corn with occasional visits to black oil sunflower seed.

**Shannon Inman came across a beautifully crafted hive of domestic honeybees a few months ago that had gone feral. The hive at the time was in perfect condition. It was predicted at the time that the efforts of the honeybees would not be able to survive the elements in such open conditions not having been built within a cavity. It would appear that scenario took place. Shannon was able to relocate the hive recently to find it empty and dismantled.

**It is not often we get the perfect substrate conditions to get perfectly imprinted mammal tracks and trails.

Brian Coyle came across some Bobcat tracks on December 27 in wet snow. The imprints show the rounded appearance, four digital pads, no evidence of claw marks, and asymmetry of the track, all characteristics that suggest feline. The negative space (the area between the toe pads and the heel pad) shows a clear C shape characteristic of feline. If an imaginary line was drawn across the print and folded together like a book, it would show the asymmetry of the feline which would not be the case for the canine.

There are a lot of good learning points in Brian’s photos.

**Brian Stone shares some photos taken on Friday of the icy boulders at the Niles St. wharf in Cap Pelé and is still processing some gull photos he took there. At the Pointe-du-Chene wharf in Shediac Brian photographed a female Red-breasted Merganser catching and swallowing a fish. (Editor’s note: the fish prey in Brian’s photo is a Sea Raven (Hemitripterus americanus) which is a member of the sculpin family. Its anatomy consists of many spines, fins, and huge mouth area. It can grow to 18-20 inches. Freshwater sculpins are small but this saltwater species grows much larger. With a bit of imagination, one can see the pleased ‘smile’ on the face of the merganser when the prize has disappeared!)

Also, at that wharf, a female Common Eider swam close and posed for the camera.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton