Nature Miramichi

Nice Photo Dee, This guy looks full of character! Peter

From: Dee Goforth <dgoforth48@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2021 9:00 AM
Subject: American Bittern

It was spotted off the Semiwagan Road yesterday afternoon. I wasn’t able to get a clear shot of the juvenile nearby.

Dee

Nature Miramichi is having its annual spring visit to Hay Island (Ile aux Foins) in Neguac this coming Saturday May 29th. We will meet at the parking area on the right side of the road just before the bridge to the island proper at 9:00 a.m. Hay Island is about 30 minutes north-east of Douglastown-Miramichi on Highway 11. (This is a bit of a late start for birding but this is a general visit and we have had lots of early starts lately!) Most of the trip is easy walking or driving but some people might like to walk along the beach to the northern tip of the island keeping an eye out for shorebirds.

It will likely be worthwhile to venture along short trails in the woods to check out warblers, but be certain to have insect repellant with you.

About one kilometer inside the village limits you will see a sign Ile aux Foins on the right, turn down rue Joseph.

Everyone is welcome, not just club members. Bring a snack or a lunch.

The Eurasian duck, a Garganey, a rare bird for North America, was last reported present on May 16th so is not likely to still be there.

Deana

Field Trip Coordinator
Nature Miramichi

Hi There,

We will have our second Warbler Walk of 2021 this Tuesday May 25th. We will meet at the French Fort Cove parking lot on Cove Road, opposite the Miramichi Curling Club for 7:30 a.m. Everyone is welcome. We will keep our distance from each other in terms of physical distancing but masks wearing is an option of course.

If you find yourself running late we will be proceeding down the hill towards the covered bridge and continuing in a clockwise direction around the cove, as this is the required direction of walk for FFC. We may wander off course initially to the left of the main trail before descending the hill so keep your ears and eyes open for us there. You could phone my cell phone 625-1810 if you have trouble locating the group.

Deana Gadd

Chairperson Field Trips
Nature Miramichi

Hi There,

We will have our first Warbler Walk of 2021 this Wednesday May 19th. We will meet at the French Fort Cove parking lot on Cove Road, opposite the Miramichi Curling Club for 7:30 a.m. Everyone is welcome. Under the Covid 19 restrictions gatherings of 50 people are allowed, if we have more than that we can split into two groups!!!!! 😊 We will also keep our distance from each other in terms of physical distancing but masks wearing is an option of course.

If you find yourself running late we will be proceeding down the hill towards the covered bridge and continuing in a clockwise direction around the cove, as this is the required direction of walk for FFC. We may wander off course initially to the left of the main trail before descending the hill so keep your ears and eyes open for us there.

We will have a report shortly about our enjoyable and successful field trip to the Sabbies River burnt-over area last Saturday.

Deana Gadd

Chairperson Field Trips
Nature Miramichi

Hi All,

Deana and I had the very good fortune to discover a somewhat rare duck at Hay Island this morning, Deana spotting it first. It is a Eurasian bird that spends its winter in Africa and southern Asia. It breeds widely across Eurasia. It shows up in North America on occasion particularly in Eastern Canada. The last report for NB, we are aware of, was a sighting in the Tracadie area in 1990.

We sent word out through NB Listserv and a few text messages and emails and before too long a number of birders gathered. We are sorry we didn’t contact more people directly. There is every chance that it will still be there tomorrow morning. It was there all day today and previous sightings have lasted a few days.

People today stayed well back so as not to bother any of the ducks. Such wanderers can be stressed although this bird did not seem concerned or even aware of us. It is a dabbling duck and seemed to be feeding well. It was with a group of about 8 Green-winged Teals … a cousin species … its name in French translates to “Teal of Summer”. It is easily seen with binoculars.

Map attached.

Peter and Deana

Beautiful indeed Nancy, in its full breeding regalia. One was spotted in Fredericton last week, likely taking a shortcut cross country, to its breeding grounds, this one too, same bird perhaps?! Very nice find, very nice photos. Peter

From: Nancy Mullin <nancymullin@live.ca>
Sent: Tuesday, April 20, 2021 1:31 PM
To: Peter and Deana Gadd <gadd1313@nb.sympatico.ca>
Subject: Harlequin Duck in Breeding Colors

Was returning from a walk along the river trail in Quarryville and spied a duck of some kind, on a rock under the Bridge…I slowly crept down to the water and was amazed at the beautiful colors! I was able to get a few clear shots. Imagine my surprise, when I looked in Sibley’s and it turned out to be a Harlequin… A lifer!!!

From: Nancy Mullin <nancymullin@live.ca>
Sent: Friday, April 16, 2021 10:29 AM
Subject: By the Quarryville Bridge

Have been going down to the Quarryville Bridge to see what ducks may be there this spring. Usually we have lots, but only a pair of Golden Eye so far. Lots of Geese along the river. Yesterday, I was thrilled to see my first Flycatcher..The Eastern Phoebe, of the year. There were two Juveniles with the adults….also caught a beaver, taking a bath by Indian Town Stream.

Nancy Mullin

I made a visit to Miramichi Marsh this morning. The water levels are receding, down about 10 inches since Tuesday. There has been recent beaver activity, plugging leveling/draining water pipes. Ducks Unlimited NB are aware and hope to have technicians visit again as they did this time last year. There is a pair of Canada Geese in the third far pond hoping to nest on an island that was quite flooded Tuesday, it looked more promising today. There is one Canada Goose pair that appear to be incubating eggs on another island.

I did see my “first of year” Great Blue Heron circling the marsh and as I was leaving I spotted a f.o.y. Northern Flicker. Interestingly, as I pulled into my driveway when I got home, there was a Northern Flicker in my oak tree. Had it followed me home? Probably not. This one did stop long enough to enjoy some shelled peanuts at a feeder although it had to bicker with a couple of European Starlings! Deana and I have been anticipating visits from Purple Finches – finally we had two males Monday, and a visit from a Fox Sparrow, which happened today.

Peter

This I know is a double posting for many but Dave’s email list is not quite the same as that for Nature Miramichi.

Peter

From: David McLeod <mcleodda@nbnet.nb.ca>
Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2021 7:45 PM
Subject: Northumberland County Winter Bird List for 2020-21

Hi Everyone,

We ended up with 75 species on the 2020-21 Northumberland County Winter Bird List, just three shy of the 78 record set in 2017-18, the year of the Mistle Thrush at Peter and Deana’s in Newcastle. This year will go down as the year of the Tufted Titmouse at Bill Carroll’s in Loggieville!

Five more species were reported since the Feb. 1 preliminary report of 70 species. These were the Cooper’s Hawk (2 occurrences with photos), Carolina Wren (photo), Red Crossbill (photo), Ring-necked Pheasant (photo), and Boreal Chickadee, missed earlier on Dec. 13 when Vanessa Hébert posted her sighting to eBird. Please refer to the attached list for further details.

There’s also a chance that someone has seen a species in Northumberland County from Dec. 1 to Feb. 28 that is still missing from the list. Some possible examples are: Northern Goshawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Great Horned Owl, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Horned Lark, Lapland Longspur, or other warbler species. If anyone has seen or heard any of these or others, please email me with the date. location, and if possible, a photo at: mcleodda

Thanks to all for making this winter so successful bird-wise!

Dave

2020-21 Northumberland County Winter Bird List final Mar 15 2021.pdf

WINTERWATCH

This usually quite elusive predator is difficult to photograph but this morning it spent almost half an hour just outside my window, preening and looking about. It may have had a recent meal as it didn’t pursue some Redpolls that were about 40 feet away.

Peter