NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS
Dec 29, 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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by e-mail, please address your message to the information line editor, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com .
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errors are noted in wording or photo labelling.
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Proofreading
courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca
**Barb Curlew was pleased to find a Killdeer
on Waterside Marsh. She suspects it is the same one she found on December 15th
about 2 kilometers west of the current sighting.
**Jane LeBlanc continues to get lots of birds
at her feeder station. Saturday, she captured a Black-Capped Chickadee
enjoying the peanut butter she stuffed into a pine cone. She then noticed a Hermit
Thrush enjoying the Mountain Ash berries she got out of her freezer.
**Maureen Girvan walked along the Dieppe Marsh Trail on Saturday to note Mallard Ducks and Muskrats enjoying the open water areas.
**Georges Brun spotted the Peregrine Falcons just over the entrance to the Petitcodiac Walking Trail off Vaughan Harvey Blvd.
The European Starling troupe is very wary
of the Northern Harrier looking for a meal next to the Chateau Moncton
but I suspect the Peregrine Falcons may prefer fresh starling more than the
Northern Harrier would.
Georges tallied 40 Rock Pigeons next to Sally (near the Superstore on Main Street).
The Northern Harrier documentary photo was
over the outlet from Trans Aqua. Depending on the angle and lighting, sometimes the image is more white than dark. There are so many Phragmites
plants in the marsh that Georges has not been able to see the Short-eared Owl (s)
seen there previously.
**Larry Sherrard was driving a back road in
the Miramichi area and was surprised to encounter three Red Foxes. Larry comments he was glad to have a few dog biscuits in
his vehicle which one fox appeared to appreciate in the video link below:
It would seem unusual to see three Red Foxes
traveling together at this time of year as, assumedly, any young-of-the-year
would have already been sent on their way. Could it be they have mating season in
mind in preparation for spring families?
**An indoor workshop presentation that may
interest many naturalists is taking place on January 4 at 232 Botsford St. in
Moncton starting at 1:00 PM.
Learn about how to make a difference this year
by starting native plants in your own yard for the birds and bees.
The presentation entitled New Year, New
Roots will demonstrate to participants the opportunity to get seeds for
winter sowing of native plants, a season that stretches out until February for
some species, something most of us may not be aware of.
It will consist of three workshops:
1:30 PM- English-language winter sowing
presentation (How to winter sow, some containers to use, some native plant
features)
2:00 PM - Nature journaling workshop on seeds
and winter plants!
3:00 PM - French-language winter sowing
presentation (How to winter sow, some containers to use, some native plant
features)
For those who want to sign up and participate,
register at the link below under ‘Reserve a Spot’ now as early birds will get
free seeds:
The presenter will be Sam LeGresley from NatureNB and a Nature Moncton member. Sam has developed a lot of expertise with native
planting and how to go about doing so in January.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
