Nature Moncton Nature News: October 22 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

October 22, 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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Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

**John Inman sends the first photo of his Red-tailed Hawk when it first arrived in February 2009 as an immature bird and quickly took an offering of meat scraps as it was a poor winter for hunting due to a heavy layer of ice under the snow and not much in the way of rodents. On Monday morning (Oct 21, 2024), it was back waiting patiently in the poplars for John to take out its meat scraps. It will be going into its 16th winter at the site and it is amazing how they can relocate places. John comments “I wish I knew where it spent the summers”.

(Editor’s note: this is a very interesting scenario -- how this bird arrives at the same time of year for its unconventional menu and departs on its seasonal mission in March. Will it do the same in late fall 2025 at 17 years of age?)

For the last couple of weeks. Common Grackles have popped in occasionally between hawks for a quick feed and three Red-winged Blackbirds have been doing the same. One Red-winged Blackbird is sharing suet with a Hairy Woodpecker.

The resident Bald Eagle has been going through yards and snapping off dead branches to shore up the nest for the winter as they have done in the past.

**Suzanne and Yves Poussart went for a drive along the coast on Sunday. In the area of Grande-Digue (about 4 km north of the Cassie Cape wharf), Yves spotted two individual Red-Throated Loons which were not too far from the road. Several additional individuals were also seen farther out. They were all actively diving, returning to the surface after an underwater swim of 60-80 m on average. Yves was lucky enough to photograph two individuals swimming together and one returning after a nice catch of what seems to be a Striped Bass. This prey was swallowed whole within five seconds. Yves returned to this location on Monday afternoon and saw several individuals of this species but they were too far out for photos). Several Common Mergansers were also seen.

**An unexpected guest was found in the moth trap of Tony Thomas this morning (Oct. 21st, 2024): a Giant Water Bug, also known as Electric Light Bug, Toe Biter, or Fish Killer.

These bugs are large, up to 60 mm (2.25 inches) in length, have prehensile front legs, and can catch live prey as big as themselves. They also have formidable mouthparts in the form of stylets that can easily puncture human skin.

They can obviously fly; adults overwinter in ponds. This one was released into Tony's bird water bath and hopefully will take off tonight.

**On Monday Brian Stone went for a brief walk around the Highland Park ponds in Salisbury to get some fresh air. Some Bonaparte's Gulls circled over the nearly empty ponds and Brian waited until he got to the far side of the ponds so the light would be behind him but by then the gulls were gone so no photos. An adult Bald Eagle scared all the duck life up and out of the pond as it did a low flyover, but they returned quite quickly as soon as it went past. Pretty much all the ducks visible were Green-winged Teals with a few Pied-billed Grebes scattered around.

In the center of the ponds some muddy earth was exposed by the low water levels and some Killdeers, Yellowlegs, and about six Wilson's Snipe were foraging and resting there.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton