Nature Moncton Nature News: April 15, 2023

April 15, 2023

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Edited by Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

**John Inman photographed a Savannah Sparrow as it was hiding from a hawk in his yard.
John also photographed two nice views of a Vesper Sparrow that visited his yard on Friday.
(Editor’s note: the Vesper Sparrow very rarely appears at feeder yards to make it a very special visitor. It tends to be active at dusk and is often found around blueberry fields).

**Jane LeBlanc in St. Martins had a White-breasted Nuthatch in her yard on Friday. It is much less common at her site than its Red- breasted cousin.

**Karen and Jamie Burris had a Bohemian Waxwing appear Thursday morning in their Riverview yard. It was feeding on dropped Highbush Cranberries on the ground and then would go and perch in their Plum tree. It stayed all day, and to their surprise, it has been present all day again on Friday, doing the same thing. They noticed it may have an injury on the left breast. Jamie comments it seems late in the season to have this bird around; maybe the injury has made it hang around?

**On Friday, Karen and Jamie went back to Highland Park in Salisbury and observed 2 Pied-billed Grebe, 1 American Coot, 1 distant Tree Swallow, and a Baltimore Oriole nest from last year.

**It has not been a great winter for a berry supply for nomadic fruit connoisseur species such as Bohemian Waxwings; however, small groups are still being seen. Aldo Dorio had a group of 5 arrive in his Neguac yard on Friday.

**Dale Pugh recently got a photo of an American Bittern with minnow prey in its bill. We did not recognize the minnow but as is often the case, Alyre Chaisson recognized it with reasons why it was a Fourspine Stickleback.
Alyre comments, “It’s a Fourspine Stickleback. The shortest of the sticklebacks. Very creamy white belly, a bit stouter than other members of this group. Slight red tinge to the pelvic spines, very characteristic of this species. Prefers the substrate rather than the water column. Great camouflage colour on the back if it was visible. Spines are needle-sharp and can puncture the skin, personal experience.”

**The City of Moncton will be holding a "clean-up weekend" to pick up trash in different areas of the city beginning on Earth Day (Friday, April 21st) and continuing on Saturday and Sunday.

For volunteers available to join in, check out all details at the link attached below.

https://www.moncton.ca/earth-day-cleanup?fbclid=IwAR3i425acxYaNwASTEauANDP-lLgZdlqfSiQw4g7Yk28iTl6Xt2fhXmqzng

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton