Nature Moncton Nature News: January 1 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

January 2, 2024

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

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Please advise the editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com if any errors are noted in wording or photo labelling.

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Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

**Jane LeBlanc in St. Martins spent time in her yard today since it was so cold, and had lots of activity at her feeder station. The Black-capped Chickadees were enjoying the peanut butter she had put on the pine cones. She also had some photo bombing going on. First, a female Northern Cardinal and Blue Jay were fighting over the sunflower seeds. Then, as she was photographing a Black-capped Chickadee, a male Northern Cardinal flew up behind it. The female cardinal likes the Witch Hazel shrub; yes, it still has flowers in January!

**John Inman’s Harvey feeder yard is hosting a duo of

Song sparrows and a Fox Sparrow. He still has 4 Common Grackles.

The Mourning Dove numbers have dropped down to 56 from 69 from raptor activity.

On Monday afternoon the two resident Bald Eagles were joined by at least four juveniles. One landed in the poplar in the front checking out the driveway, and one tried to get comfortable in a spruce tree in the backyard. Others were flying back and forth.

**Rhonda Langelaan was able to capture some excellent photos of a cooperative Red-tailed Hawk that she spotted close to the turn-off by the Golf Course near The Magnetic Hill Zoo.

(Editor's note: Red-tailed Hawks often have the habit of perching on utility wires to monitor road edges and ditches for a rodent lunch. They don’t seem to mind the passing vehicles but oftentimes as someone stops for a photo of these beautiful creatures, suspicions are aroused, and off they go.)

**It’s always a treat to spot a Northern Shrike perched, as is their habit, on the very tip of an evergreen tree surveying the area for potential lunch.

Rhonda and Paul Langelaan spotted an adult Northern Shrike perched high on a tree, hunting in the Havelock area.

**Brian Stone and Nelson Poirier went to Sackville on Monday to catch a glimpse of the rare Townsend's Warbler and a few other interesting birds present near the waterfowl park but were unlucky in that endeavour.

They did have an excellent outing anyway, meeting other birders and interested bystanders. Brian managed a photo of a busy Brown Creeper and a couple of bird nests, likely a robin's and a vireo's.

(Editor’s note: one nest was suspected to be that of a robin due to the size, mud bowl, and the fact that it was well up in a tree. The other was suspected to have been that of a vireo due to the pendulant style of the nest that was shingled with birchbark strips with a spider web component and placed well up in a shrub.)

By far the most exciting moment of this New Year’s Day outdoor event happened in the dying embers of the day as a group of birders were gathered in the parking lot of the wildlife Centre to exchange fellowship when Katelyn Luff joined them, visiting the area from Saskatoon. She ‘casually’ shared with us that she had just seen the Townsend’s Warbler moments before and she had a beautiful photo. She had seen it just yards to the rear of the Canadian Wildlife Centre building near the parking lot. She immediately showed us to the site but we were unable to locate the stealthy prize. Katelyn shared her excellent photograph which was ‘almost’ as good as being there those moments before!

We all mused how it took someone from Saskatchewan to join us in New Brunswick to show us the prize of the day!

Thank you Katelyn for providing an exciting end to a great day.

**Bob Blake maintains daily weather statistics from his Second North River home including morning low temperatures, daily high temperatures, and monthly precipitation.

From this local one-spot site, Bob compares December 2022 with December 2023.

A general overall impression from Bob's statistics is that December 2023 was a warmer month than December 2022 with significantly more precipitation as rain and less snow accumulation.

Bob’s table is below as he submits it.

2022

2023

morning temperatures

daily highs

morning temperatures

daily highs

+10-1 day

+6-1

+5-1

+3-3

+2-5