Nature Moncton Nature
News
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on the photos enlarges them for closer observation.
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.
If you would like to share
observations/photos with Nature News, contact the editor, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Please advise the editor
at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com, as well as proofreader nicholsl@eastlink.ca, if any errors are noted in wording or photo
labelling.
Proofreading courtesy of
Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca
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.
The action in the
peregrine falcon box on the summit of Assumption Place has now become nonstop,
with two very busy parents tending to the insatiable appetites of four teenagers.
Https://www.zoodemagnetichillzoo.ca/nest-cam
**Another reminder to
block off this coming Saturday, May 30, for the Nature Moncton outing on
spring ducks. All details at the end of this message and upfront tomorrow.
**Brian Coyle shares three videos
his trail cameras caught of wildlife doing their thing undetected. He was able
to capture videos of a muskrat, a spotted sandpiper, and a raccoon all going
about their daily missions. Check them out at the links below:
**On Tuesday, Brian Stone
walked along the dikes in the White Birch marsh and visited a small bog in the
area, looking for butterflies, birds, and anything else the area had to offer.
Along the way to the bog Brian photographed bobolinks, northern
flickers, bluet damselflies, hudsonian whiteface dragonflies, four-spotted
skimmer dragonflies, water arum and yellow rocket plants, and
one of a pair of Canada jays that stopped to check him out as they flew
over the marsh. In the bog, he saw brown elfin butterflies, black-banded
orange moths, northern azure butterflies, rhodora plants, and an ichneumon
wasp. The biting bugs in the bog were bountiful and voracious.
**Brian Stone sends a few leftover
photos from two weeks ago that got temporarily lost in the shuffle. At Cocagne,
Brian photographed a killdeer laying low in a grassy field, tree
swallows in the process of making more tree swallows, and a black-throated
green warbler. Further along at the Bouctouche lagoons he saw wood ducks,
Bonaparte's gulls, lesser scaups, lesser yellowlegs, a bald
eagle, and a shy Eurasian wigeon that wouldn't come closer for a
decent photo.
**Nature
Moncton Outing—Spring Ducks
Location:
Sackville Sewage Lagoon, Retention Ponds, and Waterfowl Park
Date and
start time: Saturday, May 30, at 9:30 AM
Hosts: Gwen
Clark and Jessica Belanger-Mainville
Spring in
New Brunswick is a perfect time to appreciate one of the most striking groups
of birds, the ducks, as they return to New Brunswick to breed or pass through
on their northward migration. The Sackville Sewage Lagoon, Retention Ponds, and
Waterfowl Park offer important breeding and stopover habitat for many species,
from the familiar Blue-winged Teal and Ring-necked Duck to less common visitors
like Wood Ducks, Northern Shovelers, Hooded Mergansers, and Northern Pintails.
If you’re lucky, you may even find a rare vagrant (a species far outside its
native range) like the cinnamon-headed Eurasian Wigeon!
We will start at the Sewage Lagoon and proceed to the Retention Ponds,
concluding with a short walk along the boardwalk loop in Waterfowl Park.
Bring a
snack, water, and sun protection, and don’t forget your name tag. All are welcome, Nature Moncton
members and non-members alike.
Sackville
meeting location: Sewage Lagoons on Crescent Street. From Moncton, take the
Trans-Canada Highway and get off at exit 506 (Cattail Ridge). Continue on
Cattail Ridge as it becomes Crescent Street. Where Crescent Street curves west (to the right when
coming from Cattail Ridge), turn left onto the gravel road and continue to the
sewage lagoons. Park along the side of the road.
Carpooling
meet-up location and time: We strongly encourage carpooling from Moncton to
Sackville to reduce the environmental footprint of this event. For those
wishing to carpool, we will meet at the parking lot of the Sobeys on Elmwood Drive (77 Filles de Jesus Ave,
Moncton) at 8:45 a.m.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
