Nature Miramichi:

Hello Everyone, Three Items below:

1. POT LUCK SUPPER AND MEMBERS NIGHT

Our December Nature Miramichi meeting is next Tuesday December 3^rd.As I have mentioned previously this will be our annual Christmas pot luck supper (and “Members Night) and on this occasion we will start at 6:00 p.m. Please bring a dish to share with others and you may wish to bring your own tableware and plates although some will be available.

Following supper we will hold “Members Night”  and everyone is invited to share a nature related experience. It could be about a visit you made on a nature outing, it could be some photos you took of flowers, insects, wildlife, It could be a nature book review, it could be about a concerns you have for nature, it could be about your pollinator garden, it could be about the re-wilding efforts you are making in your garden (yard) and so on. These “mini presentations” could be just a few minutes long or perhaps 15 or so minutes long. You could present over Zoom if you wish although the Pot Luck Supper bit would be difficult! Please let me know if you care to present about any of your interests in nature

2.CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT
The Christmas Bird Count season is fast approaching. Our club coordinates 3 counts:

Red Bank/Sunny Corner (December 14^th), Miramichi (December 15^th) and New Jersey/Neguac (December 29^th). We need people to help survey these areas by car (with possible occasional on-foot excursions, weather permitting.) For each count we ideally need at least 4 two person teams. More details will be available closer to the dates but please consider participating, it is interesting and rewarding comprehensive international effort to monitor bird populations. Christmas Bird Counts are 125 years old this year. The Miramichi count started in 1972! For more information visit:

Audubon Christmas Bird Count

Birds Canada Christmas Bird Count

3. NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY WINTER BIRD LIST
Sunday is of course December 1^st. The Northumberland County Winter Bird List begins on this date and continues until February 28, 2025. (Our county is the largest geographically in the province.) Anyone interested in contributing sightings to this list please send them to me at gadd1313@nb.sympatico.ca. Please include date and location of the sighting and if you can include a photo, that would be good. All photos will be welcomed but could be helpful for birds difficult to identify or are rare.

I will maintain the list as reports come in and progress can be viewed at this location:

Northumberland County Winter Bird List 2024-2025

If you think a species may have been already reported you could check this list prior to submitting although not necessary.

I will also post submitted photos of sightings in a dedicated Flickr album. This link will be shared when the first photos are available.

Early December is a good time to come across late migrating species that have no intention of hanging around for the worst of winter and hopefully there will be a few days of open water before freeze-up.

Last year we had a list of 74 species, that is a good target to aim for but we can do better! (80 species is the county record!).

This is the 14^th year that this list has been kept and I would like to acknowledge Dave McLeod for the effort and leadership he has put into this project over the years. This is a project of Nature Miramichi.

Our sightings can become part of a similar New Brunswick list maintained by Gilles Belliveau. This list can be viewed at this location.

NB Winter Bird List (gbnature.com)

Peter