NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS
March 9 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
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Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols
**The annual Nature Moncton birdfeeder tour took place on
Saturday as successfully as it has traditionally been with lots of pleasant
comradeship and lively birdfeeder yards to visit. The stars of the day were a
pair of brown creepers at two of the feeder yards as well as an immature female pine warbler continuing its overwinter stay at Yolande LeBlanc’s, and the
pileated woodpeckers at Fred and Lynn Dube's.
A special thank you to Fred and Sue Richards for kicking
off the day with a very hearty breakfast and to many of the participants who
brought along culinary specialties to make a good day even better.
**Official spring is only 12 days away, and it would
appear the advance guard of some of our earlier migrants has started.
John Inman reports that early Saturday morning, five bright
adult male red-winged blackbirds arrived at his Harvey yard.
(Editor’s note: it is right on cue to expect the first
red-winged blackbirds to arrive, starting with the adult male birds, followed
by the 1st-year immature male birds, then the females.)
**Doreen Rossiter also had her first adult male
red-winged blackbird arrive on Saturday morning to her Alma feeder
yard. Doreen had at least 42 dark-eyed juncos present as well.
The red-bellied woodpecker has stayed around all winter but has been
visiting other feeders in the village, so it isn't seen as often. Doreen’s male
northern cardinal has turned into a pair of cardinals with an infrequent
2nd male showing up.
**Frank Branch had a barred owl arrive at his
Paquetville yard on Wednesday night while it was snowing; the last one
Frank observed in his yard was a good 15 years ago.
(Editor’s note: Is the number of reports of barred owls
appearing in bird feeder yards indicative of a good year for them, or are they
having difficulty foraging with some of the hard snow crust conditions and looking to
bird feeder yards for an easier meal?)
**On Saturday afternoon, Georges Brun saw approximately 70
common eiders as they snuck up low around the Bend of the Petitcodiac
River then headed downriver, and Georges lost them in the light contrast of the
sky, forest, and marsh!
It was still cold and windy, but the signs are in front of our eyes to see conditions around the river and creeks changing quite a bit over the last 10 days. Both sides of the Petitcodiac River were accumulating large blocks of ice owing to the fact that higher water levels have a tendency to lift and break off big blocks to get trapped along the edges rather than send them up or down river. The process each year is different with not much ice some years, then the January freeze takes over with conditions suitable to freeze salty cold inner bay water and the freeze is on. In late December, there was very little frozen ice up until December 30, when the surfers were still venturing into the waters for one last surf. Then, there was the really cold weather and strong constant winds, and Halls Creek became frozen from bank to bank. That means approximately 100 feet or 30 metres of frozen ice 7 metres thick. The physical attributes of the Petitcodiac River are always just in front of one’s eyes; still sometimes the light clicks and you realize that the whiter-coloured ice along the banks freezes first. Then a few days or a week goes by and the ice has become light brown with silt but also a percentage higher salt content. With super cold weather below 0° C, the salt content is higher, and the quality of ice goes from big ice crystals to dark brown shiny ice, which looks like steel. Nature is protecting the high banks and the impacted outcrops along the irregular banks. These irregularities are sometimes the works of man-made remodeling or protective measures for infrastructure civic works.
Georges wonders if rainbow smelt have started moving
upriver for the last little while, but he has no photographic proof. Common mergansers
of both genders congregate at the Bend of the river.
The peregrine falcons were atop the "A"
logo on the Assumption building, with the female roosting very tall rather than
slumped over.
**Brian Stone sends his photos from the birdfeeder tour
on Saturday with visits to Fred and Susan Richards' place, Yolande Leblanc's
place, Fred and Lynn Dube's place, and ended at Nelson Poirier's place. The
wind was strong, and direct sunlight was scarce, but spirits were high, and
many birds were seen while good food was eaten and tasty treats were consumed.
Many of the participants were treated to close-up views of birds that they had
only seen at a distance before, and some added a couple of new birds to their
list.
A list of the birds seen contains many that were present
at all the stops and includes American goldfinch, blue jays, dark-eyed
juncos, black-capped chickadees, brown creepers, white-breasted nuthatch,
red-breasted nuthatch, northern cardinal (Brian's camera missed this one), downy
woodpeckers, hairy woodpeckers, a male pileated woodpecker, American robin,
American tree sparrow, bald eagle, and special treat of a duo of pine
warblers at Yolande's place.
**Brian Stone shares a link to an article cited below that provides food for thought. The subject of the article is the decreasing number of butterflies:
https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.7476479
Nelson
Poirier
Nature Moncton
