NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS
April 11, 2024
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The live feed to the Peregrine Falcon
nest box camera can be accessed at https://www.zoodemagnetichillzoo.ca/nest-cam
**Richard Blacquiere
leaves another great report from the active Hampton lagoons and nearby Spooner
Park which is a special place to visit at any time but before the foliage comes
on, it can be extra special:
Wednesday morning at the Hampton lagoon was calm, warm, and lots of birds.
First, a Black-capped Chickadee pair was working on excavating a
cavity in the remains of a dead tree. Further along the trail, Richard found six Bohemian
Waxwings perched in a tree. His first Eastern Phoebe of the year was
calling on Spooner Island; it was very vocal and Richard easily tracked it down
for a photo. The ponds still have many scaup and Ring-necked Ducks, and
still a few Bufflehead. Also present are the regulars including Mallard Duck,
Wood Duck, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, American Wigeon, Northern Shovelers, and
Common Goldeneye. Unusual on Wednesday was a female Hooded Merganser on the
middle pond. Richard hasn’t seen the Ruddy Duck for a few days so it may have
moved on.
Turkey Vulture numbers continue to increase. An accurate count is
nearly impossible; Richard's estimate Wednesday morning was 60+ birds.
** Sybil
Wentzell’s family watched the solar eclipse from the riverfront in Moncton.
Marvelous! The numerous gulls that had been quietly resting on the riverbank
all took flight in helter-skelter fashion when the sky darkened but settled in
again with the returning light.
Capping off the extraordinary day in Albert County, Sybil saw and was able to get some excellent photos of a beautiful Short-eared
Owl hunting over the Shepody Marsh as they were returning home.
On Wednesday, Sybil noticed the first Northern
Flickers of the year and saw three on the ground with a multitude of robins in the
Harvey area. Also, at least 20 Great Blue Herons were fishing at the Lars
Larsen Marsh on Wednesday.
**Peter
Gadd captured the epitome of courting activity between his resident pair of Northern
Cardinals on Wednesday.
It looks like a good start to their second year (at
least) of successful breeding. Late last summer they were feeding a youngster
on top of the same feeder that appears in Peter’s photo. Peter feels quite
certain it’s the same pair as they have seen them daily ever since.
**John Inman reports that Stumpy the Raccoon that is now in her 7th year, and the oldest doe White-tailed Deer were enjoying their peanut
butter and jam sandwiches for breakfast on Wednesday morning!
A few Northern
Flickers and a pair of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers arrived for initial
visits on Wednesday to pose nicely for photographs.
**Aldo Dorio photographed Black Scoters on
their migratory route past Hay Island on Wednesday. There were 12 individuals,
all males.
**On Wednesday Brian Stone took in the fresh air at
Highland Park in Salisbury and was surprised to note that some of the pond's
summer denizens had arrived. The first bird he saw was an American Coot
which was not shy about swimming close, and he heard a Pied-billed Grebe
that took a lot of binocular searching to find. A small group of Northern
Shoveler Ducks were flying around the pond, sometimes landing and taking
off several times. A Wilson's Snipe flew away quickly as Brian
approached but still got caught at a distance in the air making its escape.
(Editor's note: Brian's photo of the abundant minnow Banded Killifish may be a significant factor in the abundance of minnow connoisseur birds at this site.)
**Brian Stone made one more attempt at
photographing Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks on Tuesday evening but found it too
close to the horizon for decent photography; he sends the best photo he
could get. While he was looking for the comet as the sky began to darken, he
photographed the 2% full waxing crescent Moon floating low on the
horizon in twilight, fresh from its amazing eclipse duties the day before, and
sharing the scene with the bright planet Jupiter. He also sends a photo
of the planet Mercury he took a week ago but forgot to send in.
Brian also visited Mapleton Park for a short walk
and noted the abundance of Coltsfoot flowers blooming alongside the
trail that soon will be carpeting the sides of the trail at the west end of the
park.
**The link to the beautiful photos of Phil Riebel
of the solar eclipse in yesterday’s
edition did not function. Check the link below to view these incredible photos
showing the solar flares and other unique features we all were so awestruck by.
https://philriebelphotography.smugmug.com/Private/Solar-Eclipse/n-mHcjqJ
**Dale Pugh
was beautifully able to capture photos showing the reactions of participants of
the Nature Moncton group gathered to witness the solar eclipse. Dale captured a
photo of the drone that surprised the group as it buzzed over.
Dale also
captured some priceless video footage that can be seen at the links below some
of which was near/in eclipse totality:
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
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