Nature Moncton Nature
News
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**The camera on the peregrine
falcon nest box on the summit of Assumption Place is now live. When
checking the link to watch the activity, scroll down to the first large image,
which shows what is happening in real time.
Incubation of the
precious egg cargo at the peregrine falcon nest got much more serious on
Saturday with a parent over the eggs almost constantly, and it is appearing
that way today, Sunday. The possibility of egg-piping hatchlings is in the
cards by mid-May. It is not as easy to watch for new eggs appearing with a
parent spending most of their time mantling the eggs.
https://www.zoodemagnetichillzoo.ca/nest-cam
**Jane LeBlanc had a male brown-headed cowbird in her yard on Saturday. She's pretty sure it's a new yard
bird for her. She also had a northern flicker do a fly-by this week.
**John Inman’s pair of northern
flickers have found the suet block in his yard very much to their
liking.
John photographed a female
pileated woodpecker checking out the trees in the yard.
Another rite of spring
John photographed was a cluster fly. These flies seek refuge in cold
weather and find their way into attics and similar indoor areas. They are often
noted at this time of year exiting the sites, and can be very popular fodder
for insect-seeking birds.
These flies do not feed on
human food, but the female lays their eggs near earthworm burrows. The larvae
parasitize earthworms.
John also photographed a honeybee
sifting through the bird food in search of a potential food source.
**President Cathy Simon
reports on Saturday's nest box cleaning effort.
“It was a great day out
for our Nest Box Cleaning teams at the Riverfront Trail and Wilson’s Marsh! The
rain held off for most of the outing, making for comfortable working conditions
and some enjoyable time outdoors.
Together, we cleaned 19
boxes at the Riverfront and 20 at Wilson’s Marsh, finding evidence of tree swallows,
black-capped chickadees, and even a few mice along the way. One of the most
interesting discoveries was common milkweed seeds with their silky filaments
still attached tucked inside a box—nature’s insulation at work! In addition to
cleaning and recording our findings, we also installed brackets on each box to
improve stability. (A photo of that bracket is attached.)
The Wilson’s Marsh group
even fit in some birding, identifying 19 species during the outing, while the
Riverfront group was joined by CBC TV, who came out to feature the story.
This effort extended
beyond today as well—smaller groups helped clean 9 boxes at Mapleton Park, 10
in Memramcook, and more in Sackville.
A big thank you to
everyone who came out to help—your efforts are making a real difference for our
local birds!”
**Brian Stone joined
Nature Moncton members at Wilson Marsh on Saturday to participate in the nest
box cleanup event. Of course, his participation only included photography while
the other club members did all the actual hard work. The Wilson Marsh nest
boxes were all empty but one, and that one had a strange mix of mostly some
type of stuffing or insulation or maybe cattail fluff. The nest boxes on the
riverfront trail, the other location being serviced, gave a better selection of
proper nests, with many boxes having hosted nesting birds.
At the Wilson Marsh
location, a fair amount of birdwatching was done along with the cleanup and a
good selection of species was noted. Brian photographed bald eagles, wood
ducks, Canada geese, a male red-winged blackbird, a pair of northern
shovelers, a song sparrow, and a ring-billed gull. New
visitors that were heard were two pied billed grebes (not seen), and also two
tree swallows flew over at the end of the outing.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
PUSSY WILLOW BUDS. APRIL 11, 2026. BRIAN STONE
