Nature Moncton Nature News: April 18 2023

April 18, 2023

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Edited by Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

**It’s Tuesday, and Nature Moncton April meeting is on tonight at 7:00 PM and one not to miss!
A virtual (Zoom) workshop on owls will happen on Wednesday night in advance of an owl prowl evening to take place shortly after on an evening to be announced. The write-up for the owl events are at the end of this edition.

** Nature Moncton April Meeting

April 18, 2023, at 7:00 PM

Mapleton Rotary lodge

How colonial history has changed breeding patterns of the Acadian Nelson’s Sparrow

Presented by Kiirsti Owen, PhD student at the University of New Brunswick (with Joe Nocera) and Acadia University (with Mark Mallory)

The Acadian Nelson’s Sparrow (Ammospiza nelson subvirgata) breeds in salt marshes from northern Massachusetts to New Brunswick and eastern Quebec. In Atlantic Canada, these birds also successfully breed in dyked agricultural lands (“dykelands”) originally created by Acadian settlers in the 1600s. Little is known about how or why these secretive birds use dykelands. Kiirsti will be discussing how she is attempting to fill this knowledge gap.

In 2021 and 2022, Kiirsti attached radio tags to 76 adult Nelson’s Sparrows in southeastern NB. Kiirsti and her team tracked birds’ movements using handheld radio telemetry in saltmarsh and dykeland habitats from June to August in both years. From these data, she is looking at home range sizes and distribution in natural vs. human-made habitats. With rising sea levels and ongoing habitat alteration, it is important to understand how populations use natural and human-made habitats to carry out important life stages.

Future research will focus on discovering why some Nelson’s Sparrows choose to use mainly dykeland habitats during the breeding season. Kiirsti will also present some of the interesting observations that her team witnessed while tracking Nelson’s Sparrows, and some of the basic natural history questions that scientists can answer using radio telemetry.

This presentation will be in person at the Mapleton Rotary Lodge and available by joining on zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85252722594?pwd=MDZHa3ZvMHZEY2xXR1QxeUZ6VDF5Zz09

All are welcome, Nature Moncton member or not.

**Louise Nichols went to Port Elgin to check out a Tufted Duck that was sighted there last week in the river off of Mill St. The duck was there in the company of about 24 scaup, mostly Lesser Scaup. Afterward, she checked the town lagoon to find only light traffic on it -- a handful of Ring-necked Ducks, a couple of Lesser Scaup, some American Black Ducks, and a single Bufflehead.

Louise walked the path between the lagoon and the river and saw up ahead something that looked like a sleeping black-coloured duck on the shore. When she got closer, she saw it was a male Black Scoter. She wondered if the bird was ill or injured as it seemed unusual to see one resting on the shore, but when she approached, the bird started up and flew quickly back into the river, seemingly okay.

When Louise arrived home and was walking back through her property, she heard the sound of a Winter Wren, which came quite close to her and serenaded her for quite some time. Louise shares some photos of the wren, a new bird, for their property list.

Louise certainly experienced a banner day, starting with a Tufted Duck and ending with a Winter Wren with pleasant photos to share as a value-added bonus! Louise also got a video of the lively vocalization of the Winter Wren, which as of publication time, we have not been able to create a link to enjoy as well. Hopefully, that will be possible yet to come.
(Editor's note: despite the name, the Winter Wren does not overwinter with us in New Brunswick).

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**The weather has now warmed enough to rouse some of our native amphibians.

Shannon Inman got cooperative photos of a Leopard Frog as well as a Bullfrog on Monday.

The Wood Frog and Spring Peeper may be the first to start the spring chorus. However, other frog species and the American Toad will soon follow. The salamander/newt group will actively complete their mission in silence.

Nelson Poirier heard a very loud chorus of Spring Peepers in the late afternoon on Monday in a vernal pond in the midst of the Town of Riverview.

Shannon Inman also photographed a Great Blue Heron showing some of its wispy plumage aligning with the breeze.

**Katie Girvan got photos of the Black Scoter and Red-breasted Merganser whom many enjoyed seeing on Saturday’s field trip. We have a relatively short period of time to appreciate several species of sea duck that are only making pitstops in our area while others that have overwintered with us are joining them en route to northern breeding grounds.

**Wilson Marsh (a.k.a. Bell Street Marsh) is an excellent site to visit in Moncton, especially this time of year before foliage hides its patrons. Maureen Girvan photographed Green-winged Teal at that site on Sunday as well as the colourful Maritime Sunburst Lichen.

**John Inman captured a photo of a Red-winged Blackbird in full display mode flaring its red epaulets to impress and get the attention of any nearby females. The cattail marshes will be alive with this display over the next weeks.

** NATURE MONCTON WORKSHOP AND OUTING

OWLS: OUR NOCTURNAL RAPTORS

Presenter and Guide: Roger Leblanc

Workshop Date (online via Zoom): April 19, 2023, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM

Outing: On the first good night after the workshop. Conditions need to be perfect!

Cost: $10

Among all the bird species that can be observed at different times of the year in New Brunswick, one of the most intriguing but also alluring groups has to be owls. Why? One answer to that question is that their usual nocturnal habits make them difficult to find and, therefore, to observe and understand. And that is precisely why Nature Moncton has thought of offering a Zoom information workshop accompanied by an outing to help you discover the secrets of these usually very discreet nocturnal raptors. Under the guidance of experienced ornithologist Roger Leblanc (also a member of Nature Moncton), the workshop will review the 12 species of owls that have been accepted as having been present in the province in the past. Emphasis will be placed on the 8 species that you have a reasonable chance of observing at one time or another with information on sound, field marks, habits and habitats that together should help you when you go out looking for them.

Around the time of the workshop, Roger will check the weather forecasts and choose the best night for the outing. On that night (likely one to three days after the workshop), we will go into the field with Roger as our guide to try our luck to see (but more likely to hear) one or more of these mysterious nocturnal raptors. Roger has scouted out a couple of spots around Notre Dame where the 3 species of “possible” owls (Northern Saw-whet, Barred and Great Horned) are present and hopefully will show.

The cost for the workshop and outing is $10 and can be paid to Roger on the night of the outing. Please register below if you plan on attending the online workshop and to receive the Zoom link.

Register with Roger Leblanc at parus@nb.sympatico.ca.

All are welcome, Nature Moncton member or not.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton