Great Egret

Great Egret Visits Salisbury

Great Egret

For the last week there has been a Great Egret feeding at the lagoon in Salisbury.  I saw it on April 23.  A visit early in the morning left us empty-handed but a visit in the afternoon gave us a good sighting of this visitor from the south.  This egret has a smudge of something dark coloured on the left side of its head, probably sludge from an oil slick acquired somewhere on its travels.

The Great Egret (Ardea alba) is a rare visitor to New Brunswick, usually occurring in spring and fall.  Occasionally we will have two together but it is usually a single bird.  Once I saw one at Chance Harbour accompanied by a Tricolored Heron.

Great Egret

 The Great Egret is a large white egret with a long neck and large yellow bill.  Its legs and feet are black.  In breeding season the adults grow long plumes on their backs which extend beyond the tail.  This, unfortunately, almost led to their demise when these plumes (aigrettes) were highly sought after for the millinery trade in the 1800s and early 1900s.  Severe population declines resulted but fortunately they have recovered.  In breeding season the Great Egret develops a pretty turquoise green colour lores (around the eye) which beautifully sets off the yellow eye.  Also, the bill changes from yellow to orange.  This egret is 99 cm (39 in) long with a wing span of 130 cm (51 in) making it North America's largest egret.  A distinguishing characteristic of this species is its slow flight with the neck retracted.

The only other bird you are likely to confuse this bird with is the Snowy Egret which is smaller, has a black bill and black legs with yellow feet.  They do, however, frequent the same habitats.  The Cattle Egret is much smaller (51 cm/20 in) and has a different shape.

 Great Egret

The Great Egret prefers wetlands; freshwater, brackish or saline.  It feeds on fish, aquatic invertebrates and reptiles.  It has the advantage of size and can wade out deeper than other egret species to reach food unattainable to them.  It nests in trees in colonies along with other wading bird species.  The nest is usually 6 to 12 metres (20 to 40 feet) above the ground.  It breeds mainly in the southern US but strays in summer up the Atlantic coast and up the central part of the continent to Michigan and Minnesota.  It has never bred in New Brunswick.

An interesting fact about the Great Egret is that it is the symbol of the National Audubon Society.  Let's keep this beautiful image there and leave their plumes on their backs where they belong.  I am glad we no longer value hats decorated with animal parts!

An Explosion of Petals

These photos are taken from a lakeside park in the town of Morges.

Every year there is a magnificent Tulip Festival.

The choice of flowers is immense and I had to choose just a few of them here.

Some of the centres of the flowers quite take my breath away.

The flower photos need no accompanying text,

just scroll down and enjoy them!

The fresh green leaves of spring are reflected in the water

The faraway view was a little hazy, but if you look directly above

the post on the left, in the dip in the mountains,

the well-known Mont Blanc mountain can be seen.

This is the main path which goes alongside the lake and all around

the whole park.

I rather liked this very unusual green tulip.

Fresh green leaves which have just unfurled

Today, Sunday, there were barrel organs and singers dotted around the park

giving a very joyful atmosphere!

These were my favourites!

Redhead

Redhead Duck Seen in Saint John

Redhead

A Redhead duck (Aythya americana) visited Rockwood Park, Saint John for about a week in late March/early April.  It spent most of its time sharing a small pond with other local ducks; mallards, black ducks, american widgeon and many Ring-billed Gulls.  It was finding food and safety there so spent several days resting and restoring its energy stores before moving on to points further north.

Redhead and Mallard

The Redhead is of the genus,  Aythya, along with the Canvasback, Ring-necked Duck, Tufted Duck, Greater Scaup, Lesser Scaup and Common Pochard.  Most of these genera are North American except the Tufted Duck and the Common Pochard which are European.  To share the same genus indicates that the ducks are closely related and therefore similar in appearance and behaviour (usually).  For example, the Redhead looks much more like the Ring-necked Duck than the Mallard, which is an Anas genus.  The keen eye can see the difference in shape between the Redhead and the Mallard in the photo above.

The Redhead is a beautiful duck with its deep rusty brown head and deep yellow eye.  It is often seen alone here since it is a rare visitor and seen mainly during migration.  I have seen large rafts of them on Lake Ontario where they gather before moving on in their migration.  Most Redheads spend their summers on their breeding range on the prairies and in central Alaska.  It appears there is a small population that breeds in southeastern Ontario and in south-central Labrador.  Redheads winter in the southern US and Mexico.  

Redhead Male

The male Redhead has a deep rusty head and upper neck, yellow eye and a tricoloured bill (black, blue and white, see photo).  Its back is gray; dark gray above and lighter gray on the sides.  Both are vermiculated (showing wavy lines) and are beautiful to see up close.  Its breast is black.  The female is very different looking.  She is brown overall with a paler face and a dark crown.  Her bill is also tricoloured but with gray rather than blue.  

"Birds of New Brunswick: An Annotated List" says that nearly all modern records of the Redhead have occurred since the 1960s.  The only confirmed record of breeding in NB is from 1944 from Middle Island, Sunbury County.  This is unusual and almost all records are from spring and fall as the birds pass through to breeding grounds in Labrador.

Redheads feed by diving in shallow water.  They feed on both plants and animals:  seeds, rhizomes and tubers of pondweeds, wild celery, water lilies, grasses, molluscs, aquatic insects and small fish.  They often associate with other Aythya ducks.  The only other species that could be confused with the Redhead is the Canvasback which has the same colouring but is larger and shows a different head and bill profile.  For distinguishing the female it is best to refer to reliable field guides, for example, "The Sibley Guide to Birds" 2014.

Home to Home Adoption Program: Vikki

Vikki is an incredibly friendly spayed black domestic shorthair who is about 1-2 years old. Vikki was found as a stray and taken into a home that she hoped was her perfect fit. Sadly, she has had a hard time getting along with her new feline housemate, so her temporary family is searching for a more permanent arrangement for her!

 

This lovely lady would be a great addition to a family looking to add an affectionate cat to their home. She has tested negative for both FIV and Feline Leukemia and is up to date on all vaccinations. Vikki even enthusiastically uses her scratching pads and litter box! Vikki is looking for a home to call her own that is ready to give her all the love and attention she deserves.

Does Vikki sound like the perfect companion for you? If so, contact Ed or Ruth at 412.512.7495 or email Dustydisks1@hotmail.com to set up a time to meet.
 

Pink-footed Goose Returns

Pink-footed Goose Visits Keswick

The Pink-footed Goose (Anser brachyrhynchus) has returned!  Or, this could be another individual.  For the purpose of this blog I am assuming this is the same bird that has been seen for the last three years in the Fredericton area.

Pink-footed Goose 

The Pink-footed Goose is an European species that is very rarely seen here.  It normally breeds in eastern Greenland, Svalbard (northern Norway) and the interior of Iceland.  It normally winters along the shores of Denmark and eastern Scotland in the North Sea and sometimes a bit further south. 

So, what is it doing here?  Well, it is not unusual for birds to get blown off course during migration.  Also, sometimes the migration patterns imprinted in their brains can get jumbled.  We do not really know why but wonder if pollutants, radiation, or disturbances in the Earth's magnetic fields, for example, could be causing deviant migration patterns.  In any case, a Pink-footed Goose is now living on the eastern shores of North America.  

Shown above is the individual seen at Keswick, near Fredericton on April 9, 2018.  It was associated with a very large number of Canada Geese (250) and 6 Snow Geese.  These birds were feeding on the Keswick flats where the spring snows had begun to melt and there was vegetation upon which they could feed.  What a wonderful sight it was!  See below for a photo of the Snow Geese that were with the flock.

Snow Goose

There have been other sightings of Pink-footed Geese in New Brunswick.  This rare visitor is making itself available to birders!  The present sighting was first made about the 1st of April in the same area.  The last sighting that I am aware of was on April 9.  In 2017 a Pink-footed Goose was seen in Sheffield east of Fredericton on 14 April and a few days around that date.  In 2016, one was seen at Fredericton at Carmen Creek Golf Course for several days in November.  Before that only one sighting had been made (as far as I know) and it was in 2010 on October 30 at Cocagne on the east coast of the province.  In my opinion that was a different individual from the one that has been seen in the Fredericton area for the last 3 years.  See below for a picture of the individual that was seen in Fredericton in 2016.

Pink-footed Goose

Arthur Cleveland Bent, in his Life Histories of North American Wild Fowl, 1923, gives some additional interesting facts about this species.  Only once before was it recorded in North America.  That was on September 25, 1924 from Essex County, Massachusetts.  He tells us that this species normally nests on the tundra in the very north of Europe and usually lays just 3 to 5 eggs.  After the young have been raised the adults moult and during that time the birds are vulnerable because they can only run away on their feet for protection.  Their only predators in past times were Arctic foxes.  Of course, now they must fear humans.  He relates that during the moulting period on Spitsbergen in northern Norway the biologists found great numbers of their wing feathers strewn along the shores.  He reports that they are the wildest and most unapproachable species of geese in Europe.  That is probably a good thing.  

I am hopeful that their population has increased to the extent that the occasional individual has found its way to eastern North America.

Five Things I Love about April

1. The meeting of the seasons:

I love how lingering winter and spring mingle together to create their contrasting beauty.

The last snowfalls and flowering magnolia are a lovely example here.

2. The lakeside

 Dreamy walks along the lake at times of the day when there are as few people as possible!

Don't you love this amazing metal sculpture of a wave of little fish?

Here is a close-up.

3. Nature waking up

The spring flowers which start to bloom just everywhere. I love them all,

but there's nothing like daffodils to represent spring awakening!

Deep pink Hellebore

sometimes known as 'Lenten Rose' or 'Winter Rose'

Grapes of tiny flower buds which hang so gracefully on the branches.

4. Getting out into nature

From where I live above the centre of the town, I can easily get public transport

by bus and metro, up to the fields and the woods to enjoy the wide expanses,

the green fields and wooded areas

with just the sound of birdsong and the breeze rustling in the trees.

5. The longer days

When I can enjoy early morning walks before breakfast 

when all is still quiet and then again in the evenings after supper to hear the blackbird singing

in the trees in my neighbourhood.

There are many other things to appreciate during the month of April

and I'm sure you have your favourites too!

Early Spring Birding

Weather System Brings Early Migrants 

American Robin

Adverse weather in the last few days has brought an influx of early migrants.  Over the weekend there was a southwesterly flow of warm, wet weather that brought in a large number of migrant birds.  On Sunday, April 1, we visited the Mactaquac Dam and the area between Douglas and Mactaquac and found about 300 American Robins, 125 Canada Geese, 20 Killdeer, 4 Song Sparrows and just 1 Bald Eagle.  The eagle has likely been around all winter so does not count as a migrant but was impressive never-the-less.  

The Robins were in the bushes and on the ground practically everywhere gleaning for leftover fruit, worms and insects.  The ground was partly snow-free and melted so some were getting worms.  The Killdeer were on the open grass looking for worms and insects.  I saw one pulling a worm from the soggy soil.

Killdeer

The geese were grazing on the open ground pulling up whatever fresh shoots of green they could find.  There was a lot of jostling and interactions in the flock as the ganders protected their mates from young suitors.

White-tailed Deer

There were lots of White-tailed Deer watching us from nearby bushes or feeding on grass in exposed areas of fields.  They are hungry this time of year and eagerly seek fresh grass to make up for their winter starvation (in some cases).  In the group pictured above there were 7 individuals and 2 of the fawns looked very thin and poor.  They must have had a hard winter with all the snow and the over-population of deer in the Keswick area.

On Tuesday, April 3, there was a huge number of geese on the Keswick flats, probably 300-400.  Most, of course, were Canada Geese.  However, on a closer look, we found 5 (or 6 at a later check) Snow Geese among them.  These are rare but not totally unexpected.  A few Snow Geese usually show up each year when the huge flocks of geese pass through.  These Snow Geese probably join the huge flocks of Snow Geese that gather in the Campbellton area and Gaspe as they stage before moving north to their breeding grounds in Baffin Island.

Snow Geese with Canada Geese

Also on April 3 a birder found a very rare goose among the huge flock of Canada Geese in the Keswick area, a Pink-footed Goose.  This species is from Europe (probably Greenland or Iceland) and is rarely seen here.  One was seen 2 years ago in Fredericton and another was seen a few years before that in the Cocagne area.

Pink-footed Goose with Canada Geese

The photo above was taken at an earlier time but shows the Pink-footed Goose that was found with the recent Keswick flock.

Easter Day!

Tulips and chicks

with a grey start to the day,

but there are already sunny spells this morning

 and it should be lovely this afternoon!

Hot Cross Buns were eaten on Good Friday

and this morning too.

Quite delicious with butter and homemade marmalade!

Just the other day, I made some natural organic lip balm

using Shea butter, almond oil, beeswax and lavender essential oil.

It's beautifully nourishing for night-time or during the day.

I put the tiny pots into little sachets for gifts

and gave two of them to my family this week.

Such a joy to see primroses popping up in all the gardens on my afternoon walk!

I love writing with a fountain pen

and I have notebooks where I like to write phrases and quotations

and sometimes poems.

I recently wrote these powerful words by Gandhi.

I hope that your day will be a lovely one!

***

Crochet pattern from:this site