NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS
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.
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**Shannon
Inman spotted a juvenile northern shrike on top of a tree, possibly the
same young one that they spotted a few weeks ago.
(Editor’s
note: It is a very typical stance for a shrike to perch on a lone tree summit
in an open area to survey its surroundings for potential prey.)
**Five members of Nature
Miramichi spent a couple of hours on Wednesday morning checking the nest boxes
at Miramichi Marsh. Twelve of 14 tree swallow boxes are on islands, so as a
spring thaw seems to be approaching rapidly, there was no time to waste. The
boxes had been cleaned out last fall, made possible by the extraordinarily low
water last year. The check on Wednesday was to make certain that mice had not
squatted over the winter. Sure enough, one box was filled with cattail
“fluff,” and unfortunately, there was a dead deer mouse inside. The
photo appears to show injured hind feet, but not enough time was taken for a
more thorough examination.
Two
tree swallow nest boxes were replaced on this expedition, one of which had
been kindly provided by Nature Moncton. The Nature Moncton box was placed in such a way that its
identifying plaque is visible from the shore, albeit binoculars will be
necessary!
Five
duck boxes were checked with no indication that there had been any occupants
last summer although quite a few, mostly adult male wood ducks and a few
hooded mergansers including a young one, had been present.
(Editor’s
note: Our Nature Miramichi friends give us all a timely reminder that the time
is arriving to do some spring housecleaning of bird boxes to be ready for
potential tenants. Black-capped chickadees and flying squirrels will already be
checking them out, with tree swallows and eastern bluebirds starting to arrive
in April.
Newly
minted Nature Moncton bird boxes are ready and will be available at the March
17 Nature Moncton meeting night, waiting for new landlords to get them up.
A
huge note of appreciation to Fred Richards, who has now built 500+ nest boxes
with no plans to stop the assembly line!
Potential
landlords and bird patrons offer their appreciation!)
**On Thursday, in Irishtown Park, Brian Stone noticed a red squirrel shredding what looked like a facial tissue, bundling it together, and carrying it off -- maybe using it for some nesting material? He also saw a couple of hairy woodpeckers going about their business on suitable trees.
The next day, on
Friday, Brian checked out the trails at Cape Jourimain but found them not being
used, and snowshoes were needed. He saw no birds while he was there, but came
across four flocks of snow buntings at different spots along the roadside
on the way home. They ranged in size from just eight in one group to a couple of dozen
in another.
nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
NORTHERN SHRIKE. MARCH 6, 2026. SHANNON INMAN
SNOW BUNTINGS. MAR. 06, 2026. BRIAN STONE
SNOW BUNTING. MAR. 06, 2026. BRIAN STONE
SNOW BUNTING. MAR. 06, 2026. BRIAN STONE
HAIRY WOODPECKER (FEMALE). MAR. 05, 2026. BRIAN STONE
NATURE MIRAMICHI MEMBERS. MARCH 4, 2026. PETER GADD
MOUSE NEST. MARCH 4, 2026. JULIA CONNELL
DEER MOUSE. MARCH 4, 2026. JULIA CONNELL
NATURE MONCTON NEST BOX. MARCH 4, 2026. PETER GADD
RED SQUIRREL. MAR. 05, 2026. BRIAN STONE
CHEWED BIRCH BRANCH (RED SQUIRREL SUSPECTED). MAR. 06, 2026. BRIAN STONE
CAPE JOURIMAIN. MAR. 06, 2026. BRIAN STONE
CAPE JOURIMAIN. MAR. 06, 2026. BRIAN STONE
FROST. MAR. 06, 2026. BRIAN STONE
