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**John Inman’s resident evening grosbeak flock was joined by a leucistic female on Friday.
The adult
American goshawk has been through a couple of times as well.
(Editor’s
note: Leucism and albinism both cause pale birds, but the key difference
is complete vs. partial pigment loss, with albinism being a total
lack of melanin [red/pink eyes, all-white body] due to a genetic error in
production, while leucism is a partial loss affecting pigment cells, resulting
in white patches but normal-colored eyes, as the pigment cells in the eyes
aren't usually affected.
The same
general rule applies to mammals.)
**Georges
Brun spotted a male northern harrier floating over the Riverview marsh
near the outlet of the TransAqua water treatment facility.
(Editor’s
note: Georges’ photo may be documentary as it is very distant, but that is
often how we see the northern harrier. The long tail and white upper tail
covert are helpful field marks, and the dark-tipped wing patches and paler body
suggest it is a male.)
Georges also
noted a flock of 300+ snow buntings flying over the marsh where numerous
weed seeds are still available to them to forage upon without snow cover.
**Brian
Coyle came across fresh bobcat tracks on the morning of January
23, which led to a deer carcass in the woods. One will note that these tracks
are approximately 2 1/2" wide as well as long. They are very circular,
with long, oval, sausage-shaped toes, and the heavy fur on the foot is visible
in the footprint beyond the toes. In addition, no claw marks are visible. The
gait of this bobcat was approximately 14".
A coyote's
track is quite different, in that it is rather narrow in width compared to the
length, and coming almost to a point, typically measuring approximately 2
1/2" long and approximately 1 1/2" wide. Additionally, the toes are
quite compact, usually showing only the central two toes with claw marks,
unlike a domestic dog, where the toes are spread out and display all claw
marks. The typical gait of a coyote will be approximately 18" to 20",
and very tidy, in that the individual footprints will not deviate from the
central line of travel much more than a few inches.
You can draw
an "X" within the negative space of a coyote track, where you cannot
do the same with a bobcat track. The negative space is the space between the
front and hind digits of the paw. See photos.)
Nelson
Poirier
Nature
Moncton
