NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS
February 21, 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
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**The popular annual birdfeeder tour event outing will take place
this coming Saturday, February 24. Details at the end of this edition and
upfront on Friday.
**A
very appreciative thank you to Curt Nason for his contagiously enthusiastic
presentation on that special event that will happen when the path of the solar
eclipse will pass through New Brunswick on April 8, 2024. Curt did a wonderful
job of explaining the significance and potential excitement of this event and
Curt’s enthusiasm had a large captive audience extremely
attentive. It’s going to be a big deal!
**
Dale Pugh was able to capture a beautiful video of a Shrew putting in an
appearance to check out her birdfeeder menu during daylight which is very
unusual. This little insectivore will spice up its diet with seed in the
winter. The numerous snow-burrowed tunnels it leaves make its presence very obvious, but it normally creates these tunnels nocturnally, making it difficult to observe the shrew itself. Check out Dale's video at the link below;
Dale
has also captured a video of a Carolina Wren visiting her feeder yard.
The video is in slow motion.
Check
out the action at the attached link:
This is Dale Pugh’s second winter for backyard bird feeding. Following the holidays, she repurposed 3 Christmas trees which are providing a bit of shelter near the feeders for smaller birds. In addition to their daily winter visitors (Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers, Black-Capped Chickadees, a pair of White-breasted Nuthatches, a Red-breasted Nuthatch or two, a small flock of American Goldfinches, 3 pairs of Dark-Eyed Juncos, a dozen Mourning Doves, and one European Starling), Dale has spotted a Golden-crowned Kinglet checking out the ground under the feeders. On January 21st, Dale was delighted to spot a Carolina Wren checking out their feeders. The wren has sporadically continued to drop by; however, visits are very brief so getting a photo has been a challenge, other than through a window.
Another not-as-welcomed visitor, a Sharp Shinned Hawk, has taken several Mourning Doves. On occasion, Dale has spotted a little Shrew emerge from a hole in the snow near the feeders. Dale provides a few Grey Squirrels and Red Squirrels with daily treats of nuts, and as a result, the squirrels leave the suet and seed feeders alone.
Another winter surprise for Dale occurred when the Air Plant that sits on her kitchen windowsill began to blush and then bloomed. This was a first and Dale reports she cannot take credit for the care or obvious happiness of the plant. Her husband faithfully waters the plant on the same morning each week by placing it upside down for 3 hours in a bowl of water.
** Several times over the last few days Deana and Peter Gadd have noticed
that the female Northern Cardinal has been displaying. Perhaps this is a
territorial behaviour, or at least an attempt to drive away a competitor, probably
not admiring herself. They have heard some cardinal vocalization lately. Today,
in the presence of the male, she was again ‘attacking’ the side mirrors of two
cars parked in the driveway. The Gadds have seen a male do this in the past but
were surprised that a female felt the need. They took a preventative measure to
reduce her stress with a sock to cover the mirror! Photos attached.
On Monday, February 19, Deana saw a Red-winged Blackbird at a
feeder. They usually get them in late March in numbers. In addition to the
Red-winged Blackbird, their feeders were busy on Monday. Amongst the 15 species
that visited their feeders were 2 Pine Siskins for the first time this year, and
2 female Purple Finches paid a return visit.
** Brian Stone has begun practicing
solar photography in preparation for the April 08 solar eclipse. He sends 2
photos of the Sun he took with 2 different filters, a strong neutral
density filter, and a mylar solar filter. The ND (neutral density) filter gives
a cool, bluish tint to the Sun and is ok for the camera but not safe for
optical viewing, while the mylar filter gives it a warm, orange tint and is the
type of filter that is safe for optical viewing. Brian hopes to use both types
during the eclipse for photography along with the proper safe eclipse glasses
for optical viewing.
**Nature Moncton
Birdfeeder Tour
Saturday, February
24
8:45 AM until it’s
over.
The very popular
annual birdfeeder tour will take place this coming Saturday, February 24.
Participants are
asked to gather at the northeast corner of the Coliseum parking lot at 8:30 AM
for departure at 8:45 a.m. via carpooling as possible for the home of Jean Renton
where homemade baked beans, bacon, and sausage will be waiting, and no doubt
lots more goodies as participants are asked to bring along a small contribution
as able for the menu. Jean’s yard is always a hotspot for birds partaking of
their bird seed menu.
After food,
socialization, and birds, participants will move on to several other feeder
yards in the Riverview area to Weldon as whistle stops.
The last stop of
the day will be at Nelson Poirier’s where more food, socialization, and
hopefully birds will be waiting.
Jean Renton’s
physical address is 460 Gorge Rd., going past Moncton Crushed Stone facility and
rounding the corner at the Stilesville Church.
A sheet will be
given out at Jean’s with the physical addresses of the sites to be visited over
the day and telephone contact can be made at 506-866-2752 any time during the
day for late joiners or to find out where the group may be at any time.
All birds are
welcome!
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
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