Nature Moncton Nature News: April 4 2023

April 4, 2023

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Edited by Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

**On March 30. Jim Carroll had 2 very brightly coloured male Eastern Bluebirds choose to decorate their yard with their presence for a day. Jim comments he has never seen Eastern Bluebirds so colourful. They transformed the yard from a winter yard to a spring yard.

As if that wasn’t enough reward conquering a New Brunswick winter, on Sunday, April 2, a rare Townsend’s Solitaire dropped in to compete with some American Robins for Mountain Ash berries. It was last seen NE bound. Here are some video links;

Easter Bluebirds: https://youtu.be/fVH_00gfAAk

Townsend’s Solitaire: https://youtu.be/vVbHxqJuqQ0

(Editor’s note: it is interesting to note the arrival times of the Eastern Bluebird. Some seem to arrive very early, while others are still arriving in May. It possibly is due to the fact the Eastern Bluebird does not migrate very far south in winter. It is also great to note the swelling numbers of the species, quite possibly thanks to the sharply decreasing numbers of the non-native competitive House Sparrow.

Having these 2 species as yard birds over a few days is special, as are the excellent photos and videos that Jim shares).

**On Friday, March 31, 2023, Brian Coyle was sitting on his back deck in the early evening when he noticed a well-camouflaged Ruffed Grouse feeding along the edge of the tree line. At times, it was clearly eating bits of dead leaves that it was breaking apart. He was able to watch it for nearly a half hour and noticed details in its feathers that one would not normally see unless brought up close by a telephoto lens.

Check out the action at Brian’s video link below:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hsdj6hdlthjrt4u/Ruffed%20Grouse%20..%20Brian%20Coyle%20.MOV?dl=0

**Bob Blake reports they had their first male Red-winged Blackbird arrive Monday afternoon. Last year it was Apr. 21 for their first one to arrive.