Wednesday, 19 February 2025

February 20 2025

 

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

February 20, 2025

 

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  and proofreader Louise Nichols at Nicholsl@eastlink.ca if any errors are noted in wording or photo labelling.


For more information on Nature Moncton, check the website at 
www.naturemoncton.com.

 

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols

nicholsl@eastlink.ca

 

 

**Daryl Doucette phoned early Wednesday morning to say that a small owl was perched on an upper beam under his deck in urban Moncton.

Nelson Poirier aimed the F-150 in Daryl’s direction (possibly faster than the law would allow) to confirm it was indeed a northern saw-whet owl. Both Daryl and Nelson were able to get photographs at a respectful distance before a grey squirrel came along and spooked it. It appeared to be in very good condition and, hopefully, was able to get a nocturnal rodent lunch at Daryl’s birdfeeder yard before its possible plan to roost for the day.

 

 

**Frank Branch in Paquetville continues to have an adult American goshawk monitor his bird feeder yard. It always perches on the same branch of the same tree to do its watch. Frank shares a photograph of it at its favoured perch during the recent storm day as well as a photo from a few weeks ago to show the difference in snow level in Frank’s yard after a 30 cm snow drop.

 

**American robins seem to have made a rather sudden move to urban areas in the past weeks, suggesting the rural areas of dense mountain ash trees have been stripped of their berries to make flowering crab fruit an attractive alternative.

Another alternative is the rosehips of the invasive plant multiflora rose, which can be popular as well.

Lisa Morris gathered some multiflora rose that was berry laden and had robins coming to it quite quickly. Lisa also noticed the mourning doves did not seem impressed with the cold days earlier in the week.

 

**Brian and Annette Stone went for an outing in Mill Creek Park in Riverview on Wednesday afternoon and walked out on one of the back trails that leads out of the park and passes three nice beaver dams. On the way they were checked out by a pair of Canada jays that came in close to inspect them and stayed long enough for a few photos. They also came across a male pileated woodpecker working diligently to find insects under the bark and in the trunk of a tree. A pair of white-tailed deer were exploring a snowmobile trail beside the park and stood long enough to join the photo lineup. Other photos to come later.

 

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

 Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton



NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL. FEB 19, 2025. DARYL DOUCETTE


NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL. FEB 19, 2025. DARYL DOUCETTE



NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL. FEB 19, 2025. NELSON POIRIER 


NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL. FEB 19, 2025. NELSON POIRIER 


AMERICAN GOSHAWK. FEB 17, 2025. FRANK BRANCH


AMERICAN GOSHAWK. FEB 17, 2025. FRANK BRANCH


AMERICAN GOSHAWK. FEB, 2025. FRANK BRANCH


PILEATED WOODPECKER (MALE). FEB. 19, 2025. BRIAN STONE 


PILEATED WOODPECKER (MALE). FEB. 19, 2025. BRIAN STONE 


CANADA JAY. FEB. 19, 2025. BRIAN STONE 


CANADA JAY. FEB. 19, 2025. BRIAN STONE 




AMERICAN ROBIN. FEBRUARY 17-19. LISA MORRIS


MOURNING DOVES. FEBRUARY 17-19. LISA MORRIS






WHITE-TAILED DEER. FEB. 19, 2025. BRIAN STONE