Nature Moncton Nature
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**It is that time of year
when morning and evening sunsets can be awesomely beautiful.
Larry Sherrard captured a
photo of the sun disappearing into the horizon so suddenly as it bade adieu, and as
it watched over the snow-covered Little Southwest Miramichi River.
**Anna Tucker has been
noticing several pine grosbeaks that have appeared over the past week,
searching through shrubbery in the yard of her Moncton Church Street apartment
complex. She is not sure what the object of their interest is; however,
something has definitely attracted their foraging attention.
**John Inman is noting
some bird activity that is suggestive of the upcoming season!
The group of male purple
finch moved on, but a group of female purple finch moved in.
A red-winged blackbird
was high in the poplar tree in spring song.
There have been several American robins
around all winter, but 15 or so dropped in while passing through on Friday.
**On Friday afternoon,
Brian Stone walked the section of the NB Trail from Coverdale Rd. to the old
train bridge near Salisbury to look for the bald eagles that hang out in that
area. No other wildlife of any kind was seen, but as Brian was leaving the
train bridge, an adult bald eagle flew over and landed on a tree beside
the river. Brian stayed for a while to see if the eagle would have company, and
after a few minutes, the eagle began flapping its wings as if it was preparing
for an energetic take off, but then settled down again. A few minutes
later, the eagle flew off and circled overhead for a while, and then headed off
towards the Coverdale Rd.
Brian left the
bridge and headed back himself, but as he was approaching the Coverdale Rd., he
noticed two adult eagles perched at the top of a large pine tree, but they flew
off before he could get the camera going. He waited for a few minutes in case
they came back, but as he was staring at the top of the pine tree he suddenly
noticed that there was a large stick nest up there as well, definitely an eagle
nest. Brian headed home with the knowledge that the eagles would possibly be
nesting there this season. An extra note to this story ... when Brian was
processing his images of the first eagle flapping its wings vigorously on its
perch by the bridge, his wife Annette pointed out that the eagle had a branch
in its beak and appeared to be trying to break it off, most likely to bring it
to the nest for some needed upgrades.
(Editor’s note: A
nice story of spring preparations. We may not be preparing for spring, but
wildlife is, especially bald eagles, as they make repairs to nests that in many
cases they have been using for years to raise a family.)
Nfelelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
