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Editor: Nelson Poirier    Proofreader: Louise Nichols

Thursday 19 April 2018

April 19 2018

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, April 19, 2018 (Thursday)

Please advise editor at nelson@nb.sympatico.ca if any errors are noted in wording or photo labeling.
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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelson@nb.sympatico.ca
Transcript by: Catherine Johnson johnson2@xplornet.com
Info Line # 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)

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**Gabriel Gallant shares a few observations he was able to accompany with photos the past few days.  He has had his first PINE SISKINS that he has had this past winter come to his feeder yard when 4 came by. Several others have commented on the same scenario.  There appears to be more pine siskins around bird feeding areas recently than during the winter when we most often see them.  
On Monday Gabriel took a walk down the Bell Marsh trail to encounter 6 HOUSE FINCH and a small group of AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS.  It's a great time to monitor activity at Bell Marsh.  
On Wednesday while driving on #2 highway, the Fredericton highway, he spotted a very white plumage SNOWY OWL in a tree near the highway. Most snowy owls at this point must be filing flight plans north. 

**Kathy Popma had a SUMMER TANAGER drop by her Sackville yard on Wednesday for a brief visit and got a photo.  It is a first summer male and an uncommon visitor to NB. As it matures it will take on a reddish plumage with dark but not black wings and tail that it will retain all year.  They bred to the south of us in the southern US across to the south-western US. 

**Roger Leblanc had  AMERICAN WOODCOCK start vocalizing around his Notre Dame home on Wednesday evening.  There were at least two. To add to the dusk activity, a BARRED OWL was calling as a backdrop.  
The snow load is still heavy in the wooded area around Roger's home and expected them to be later this year as they have been quite active in some locations already.  

**There has been a surprising number of INDIGO BUNTING reports out of NS.  It may be a bird to watch for in NB at the moment.  

**Aldo Dorio got a photo of a HOODED MERGANSER pair being escorted about the Hay Island coastline under the guidance of a male RED-BREASTED MERGANSER on Wednesday.  On Thursday morning he got a photo of a female breeding plumage COMMON GOLDENEYE that shows the anterior bill with its orange tip, where as its kin the female BARROWS GOLDENEYE would have a total orange bill in breeding plumage. 
 Nelson Poirier 
Nature Moncton 
COMMON GOLDENEYE (FEMALE). APRIL19, 2018.ALDO DORIO

HOODED MERGANSER PAIR AND RED-BREASTED MERGANSER (MALE) IN FRONT. APRIL18, 2018

HOUSE FINCH (MALE) APRIL 16, 2018. GABRIEL GALLANT

PINE SISKIN APRIL 14, 2018. GABRIEL GALLANT

SNOWY OWL. APRIL 18, 2018. GABRIEL GALLANT

SUMMER TANAGER. KATHY POPMA. APRIL 18, 2018