NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS
December 31, 2023
Nature Moncton members as well as
any naturalist in New Brunswick or beyond are invited to share their photos and
descriptions of recent nature sightings to build a fresh (almost) daily edition
of Nature News
To respond by e-mail, please address
your message to the information line editor, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com .
Please advise the editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com if any errors are noted in wording or photo
labelling.
For more information on Nature Moncton, check the website at www.naturemoncton.com .
Proofreading
courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca
**Brian Coyle captured two excellent trail
camera videos that provide interesting observations of wildlife going about
their normal daily activity with no human behind the camera lens.
The first video shows a mother Bobcat
interacting with her young-of-the-year kitten. The teenage kitten is nearing
the size of its mother and will be in her care for approximately another 6-8 weeks.
At that point, the female will come into estrus and the youngster will be quite
abruptly advised it’s time to go out on its own.
At one point in the video, the young
Bobcat erects its bobtail to beautifully show the tip as black on top and white
underneath with dark rings ahead of it. The Lynx would show a completely dark-tipped
bobtail (dipped in black ink) without the dark rings.
The rock pile where this video was
taken is surprisingly near Brian’s Lower Mountain Road home and has been very
good to Brian providing a surprising array of wildlife visitors.
Take a look at the action at the link
below. Left-click on it to open:
Brian’s second trail cam video
captures a raptor surveying its surroundings near a beaver pond in deeper
woods.
Identification of the raptor is more
of a challenge. Although it is clearly viewed from the rear, details of the head
area have to be studied by pausing the video back and forth.
Both Gilles Belliveau and Todd Watts
have carefully viewed this video, and both feel the chances of it being a Sharp-shinned
Hawk have the highest potential.
Gilles points out that when the bird turns
its head to the side you can see a bit of rusty coloration in the face and a
lack of white supercilium to rule out Northern Goshawk. The colouration from the
top of the head to the nape and down to the back appears uniform and the
tail feathers appear similar in length when the bird bends forward and starts to
fan the tail as it takes off.
Todd similarly points out that he sees little tail feather
graduation and the head, nape, and back colours appear very uniform. When
considering these traits and that the bird was observed in a heavily
forested area, he is inclined to think this is a Sharp-shinned Hawk.
Todd also points out that often head shape can be
very helpful, as can a good look at the feet and shins. Unfortunately, one
cannot see either well enough to make a judgement based on those features.
Take a look at Brian’s video at the link below:
Appreciation to Gilles and Todd for sharing their
thoughts to provide a learning experience for the rest of us.
Todd Watts is scheduled to give a presentation on
raptors at the Nature Moncton January meeting on January 16, 2024.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
