Nature Moncton Nature
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**Jane LeBlanc caught both
American robins and Canada geese on a walk through St. Martins on
Friday. The one she missed (twice) was a northern harrier seen flying over the
marsh. At least she knows they are in the area, so she can keep an eye out for
them.
**Shannon Inman
photographed a group of alder shrubs that had lesions that she had not noticed
before, and she was wondering what may be the cause. A consultation with Doug Hiltz at the
Maritime College of Forest Technology brought back a commentary with a portion
of that response quoted below:
“Normally fungus and
fungus-like pathogens are usually fairly dormant in the winter. SO, I believe
this is probably some type of sun-scald injury. This time of the year when the
air is cold and dry and the sun is bright and intense, it can cause damage to
the outer and inner bark. Essentially like a peeling sunburn on humans. I’ve
never really seen it on an alder so I can’t be certain but it looks similar to
this in other species.”
**Thanks to Georges Brun for alerting Nature News to Mike Wedge's Petitcodiac Tidal Bore Channel! Mike for certain has the most video dating back to prehistoric times when the Albert County Mastedon roamed the province of New Brunswick. Joke!
Mike Wedge’s amazing
history of the Petitcodiac River tidal bore is definitely something to watch in order to
appreciate and understand this phenomenon that has attracted people from all
over the world.
https://youtube.com/@hightidesup?si=kiZTaSO5fGFQ0SB7
**On Friday Brian Stone
checked on the bald eagle nest in Upper Coverdale and saw that the nest
had one eagle sitting in it, deep enough to be hidden from view when near the
nest. As Brian was watching to see if the eagle would peek up over the edge of
the nest the eagle's partner flew in (blurred by the trees in front of
it) and landed on the side of the nest. Brian was amazed by the eagle's
wingspan that was evident in one photo as it landed and its wings were held
straight up showing an impressive length. At a further stop in Highland Park
Brian found a large number of Canada geese and caught a pair of common
mergansers flying fast over the river. A female hairy woodpecker
looked comically out of place pecking for insects at a pileated woodpecker
site.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
