Nature Moncton Nature News: February 7 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

February 7, 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 labelling.

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Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

**Conrad Alain was able to photograph a Boreal Owl on February 3 at Hay Island in Neguac.

(Editor’s note: this is a very fortunate photograph as the Boreal Owl is not a common visitor to New Brunswick and one has to be in the right place at the right time for this chance observation.)

**Dave McCollough was able to capture a photo of a winter-plumage Snowshoe Hare that visited his yard during the storm on Tuesday.

Dave’s photo nicely shows the dark that does appear on the ears in winter plumage. The outer body hair is indeed white but the same hair next to the body is dark. The white outer portion will wear down to camouflage brown as spring comes on.

**Louise Nichols has had a greater variety of birds show up at the feeders this past weekend because of the snow. She saw American Tree Sparrows at the feeders for the first time this winter along with a few Dark-eyed Juncos. But the biggest surprise was a lone Common Redpoll that appeared both Saturday and Sunday. This is the first redpoll Louise has seen this winter, but odd that it would be solitary. She also has a White-breasted Nuthatch which had disappeared for a while but reappeared on Sunday. A single Common Grackle has been visiting on and off throughout the winter. Louise shares some photos that were taken through the window.

**Barb Curlew and Rick Elliott watched 2 Ruffed Grouse foraging on Wild Cherry tree buds just outside their Waterside kitchen window. They were interesting to watch as they slowly moved on the branches reaching for the buds and sometimes overextending and falling out of the tree.

(Editor’s note: winter buds are nutritional powerhouses for some overwintering birds; however, the Ruffed Grouse is a winter bud specialist.)

**Norbert Dupuis photographed some of his feeder patrons in the blowing snow on Tuesday from his Memramcook East deck.

**Jamie Burris comments that it surprises him how important Staghorn Sumac.is for overwintering birds. They had American Robins and European Starlings feed on it Tuesday in their Riverview yard and Crows the day before. He has also had Northern Cardinals, House Finch, and Blue Jays in the past. Jamie also had a Grey Squirrel visit during Tuesday’s storm.

**Brian Coyle was able to capture another video of a Bobcat at a Beaver dam. It comes into view and sits right down in front of the camera, surveying its surroundings to give an excellent observation of this relatively common animal we seldom see going about his mission unaware of any 'human' presence.

Take a look at Brian’s video capture at the link below:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/80kc2wq0op52wmk7e8fqf/IMG_0001-Copy-7.MP4?rlkey=aigg06ylgn2sx35o78t9qsn9b&dl=0

**Elaine Gallant spotted several White-winged Crossbills on Saunders St. in West Riverview and was able to get a documentary photo of one before a hawk in the area resulted in a very short stop.

**Jane LeBlanc's flock of Evening Grosbeaks numbered at least two dozen Saturday. They discovered the feeder closer to the window, so this photo is not as distanced as previous ones. Females outnumber males, but there are a few males.

**Evar and Cathy Simon share a few photos of their frequent visitors to their front yard feeders in Lutes Mountain.

**Brian Stone shares some of the few photos he took during his visit to family at Hampton, N.B. over the last few days. Most birds and wildlife eluded him but he managed to capture a handful of pictures from a small group of 8 Snow Buntings that were picking up grit and seeds from the side of a road just outside Hampton. The birds were constantly being disturbed by passing traffic and would rest on the rails of the CN tracks that passed close to the road as they waited for a quiet spell to go back and resume their business.

Brian was pleased when the small flock landed right behind his parked car, and doubly pleased when they didn't seem to mind him sneaking out of the car and pointing the camera at them when he noticed that they looked a bit different than they should have. It turned out that they were a group of American Tree Sparrows that just flew in to share the road with the buntings.

Other than that, Brian had only a few scenery photos to send of Quaco Head, Ile Haute, and Hampton Hills.

(Editor's note: Ile Haute is an island seen from the Fundy Parkway that is uninhabited except for wildlife at the moment, but it has a very interesting history of human visitation.)

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton