NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS
January 15, 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
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
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Proofreading
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**The January Nature Moncton meeting
will be starting off 2024 with a special double-bill presentation by raptor
guru Todd Watts tomorrow night Tuesday, January 16 at 7:00 PM. All details are at
the end of this edition and upfront on Tuesday.
**A photo of the Memramcook Arthur Street lagoon showing picturesque Memramcook East in the background taken by Susan Richards failed to load on Sunday’s edition. It is added again today. Here's hoping gremlins are not at play.
**Grant Ramsey and Magda Kuhn send a few videos of a Hairy
Woodpecker that is very avidly enjoying the menu outside the window of their
home. Take a look at the enthusiasm in the video links attached below:
**On Sunday Brian Stone drove around the Moncton and
Salisbury areas searching for interesting photo subjects. At the Government Rd.
lagoons in Salisbury he photographed some of a group of more than a dozen gulls
that were resting beside the water and scanned the several dozen Mallard Ducks
that were present for special visitors but found none.
(Editor’s note: the photos seem to show the gulls
present were very predominantly 1st-winter Iceland Gulls showing totally
black bills, completely dark eyes, predominantly pale plumage, and pinkish
legs.)
Back in Moncton Brian photographed the Peregrine
Falcon pair resting on the side of the Assumption Building and then got a
call from Nelson Poirier to join him on a new adventure to check a field in
Wheaton Settlement for possible interesting raptors reported by a local
resident. On the way there, Nelson spotted a Red-tailed Hawk in a tree
beside the road and Brian got a few distant photos as it flew from its perch.
(Editor’s note: in the flight photo, Brian was able
to capture the patagial bar on the leading edge of the wing near the body
(arrowed) which is specific to adult and juvenile Red-winged Hawks as well as
the rusty red tail (arrowed) specific to the adult bird.)
At the field in Wheaton Settlement Nelson and Brian
saw lots of Black-capped Chickadees and American Goldfinch at the resident's
feeder, but after seeing a distant Bald Eagle fly past had no other luck
spotting the hoped-for raptors. Possibly a stakeout to continue at another
time.
In the dying embers of the day, a doe White-tailed
Deer and her 2 young-of-the-year came to the edge of the field to get a closer
look at the intruding vehicle.
** Nature Moncton January Meeting
Tuesday, January 16, 2024, at 7:00 pm
Mapleton Park Rotary Lodge
Subject: Raptors, Raptors, Raptors!
Presenter: Todd Watts
This presentation will be approximately a two-hour
session with a mid-time break to provide everything a naturalist really needs
to know about diurnal raptors from one of New Brunswick’s best.
Join Todd Watts, the founder of the Greenlaw
Mountain Hawk Watch, for a discussion on how to identify birds of prey. As an
avid hawk watcher, Todd has spent over 5,000 hours scanning the skies in search
of hawks. This experience has provided a great opportunity for him to develop
significant skills in the art of raptor identification.
During this two-hour presentation, we will explore
some of the finer points of distinguishing one raptor from another. Special
attention will be given to particular challenges, such as the difficult ID
points that separate the Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk, and Northern
Goshawk. If time allows, all the regularly occurring species of diurnal raptors
will be covered.
This will be a virtual presentation to be shared
with anyone wanting to get up to speed on raptor ID.
The presentation will be on the screen at the
Mapleton Rotary Lodge. The audience
present and the virtual audience will both be able to interact with Todd.
To connect virtually, click on the following link:
Join our
Cloud HD Video Meeting
All are welcome, Nature Moncton member or not.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
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