Nature Moncton Nature
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**Jane LeBlanc and some
friends went to the Irving Nature Park in west Saint John, hoping to see the American
avocet. It was not found, but they photographed a Nashville warbler and
saw other expected species.
**John Inman notes that a banded
blue jay has been around his yard off and on for a few years. There used to
be two of them.
John also photographed a sharp-shinned
hawk in for an early drink, and a male purple finch. The red-bellied woodpecker
likes suet but is often seen taking whole corn kernels.
**Brian Stone and Cathy
Simon visited the Tucker St. and Highland Park ponds on Sunday, and Brian sends
a few photos of some of the nature they observed. At the Tucker St. lagoons,
they saw the six long-billed dowitchers that had previously been reported
by Paul and Rhonda Langelaan. Many green-winged teals were still present
and remained nervous, taking flight at the slightest approach. In a tree at the
beginning of the trail, a porcupine was resting and didn't move at all
for the full time they were there. Several groups of Canada geese began
to fly in as they left the trail, and by the time they reached the
top of the hill, the ponds were hosting large numbers of them.
At Highland Park, the
ponds were beginning to fill with water thanks to the recent rains, but some
exposed mudflats still existed and were growing green plants. Several lesser
yellowlegs were foraging at the edge of the new water, and a great blue
heron was standing tall and waiting for fish to swim by. A
chipmunk on the upper trail was hiding in a hollow stump and came out to look
around occasionally.
Brian also includes a few
photos of the three white-rumped sandpipers he spotted at Tucker St. on an
earlier visit.
**On Saturday, Brian Stone
walked around the Sackville Waterfowl Park and found mostly American wigeon
ducks there in great numbers. A few gadwalls and mallards were mixed in, but no
others were visible at that time. On a railing near the Clarence St. entrance a
juvenile male red-winged blackbird was eating seeds put out for the
birds, but it was the only one seen on the walk.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
