NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS
January 14, 2025
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Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols
**Shannon
Inman spotted a very distant Red-tailed Hawk with unusual markings
noted, especially on the dorsal surface of the wing. Distance and lighting,
plus the hydro line, made for difficult photography, but Shannon managed four good
documentary photos.
(Editor’s note: I suspect if
this hawk is seen in the area again, it will stand out as it would appear it is
partially albinistic/leucistic. From the tail colour, it would appear to be an
adult bird, so it may have just moved into the area recently as no reports I am
aware of have been made.)
**It’s that time of year
when owl pairs can be heard vocalizing, especially at dusk and during the
night, as they are bonding and staking out territories with housekeeping in mind.
Cathy Simon heard two Barred
Owls calling to each other in the woods outside Hillside Baptist Church
(2290 Mountain Road in Moncton) on Tuesday evening.
**Lisa Morris came across a
very cooperative male Pileated Woodpecker on a Centennial Park trail
harvesting beetles from a tree that they were no doubt recycling.
This beautiful bird is likely very accustomed to human
traffic and must give a lot of pleasure to trail users watching it go about its
mission.
**Susan and Fred Richards have a male Hairy Woodpecker
enjoying a peanut butter/lard mixture with dried insects at their feeder
station.
Susan photographed a lone gull at the Arthur
Street lagoon in Memramcook. It was the only one there with no other gulls
flying or sitting. Sue had thought that perhaps it had frozen into the ice?
On Sunday Brian Stone drove a looped route that led
through Shediac to Petit Cap and back through the Tantramar Marsh. At the
Pointe-du-Chene wharf he photographed some members of a group of Red-breasted
Mergansers that were diving in the waves near the corner of the wharf. He
also got some overhead flight photos of a gull, and distant photos of a pair of Harp Seals far out on the ice.
At the Niles St. seafood plant, Brian saw a few gulls
standing in the shallows next to the small beach, but not many were there in
total. At the Petit Cap wharf, Brian saw a group of gulls hovering over
and some swimming in the heavy waves at the corner of the breakwater.
Ending the day in the Tantramar Marsh, Brian counted eight Rough-legged
Hawks, one Red-tailed Hawk, and one Northern Harrier hawk. The flock of Snow
Buntings seems to have grown and numbered well over one hundred. Two of the
Rough-legged Hawks were kind enough to hover near Brian so he could get some
decent photos of them and two others were scenically perched on hay bales. The
other birds seen were not so cooperative and evaded being photographed.
On Monday, while waiting (unsuccessfully) for the
recently spotted Common Gull at Saint Edouard Wharf to make an appearance,
Brian photographed some of the gulls that were present, including one Lesser
Black-backed Gull and Iceland Gulls.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
