Mactaquac Christmas Bird Count

Local Birders Conduct Citizen Science

Hairy Woodpecker

January 1st brings a group of birders to the Mactaquac area to do an annual bird census, the Christmas Bird Count.  Over 50 counts are done in New Brunswick between the dates of December 14 and January 5.  Counts are done in the same 24 km circle every year.  This provides useful data on bird populations and all the factors that might influence them.  The Mactaquac circle goes from Keswick to Granite Hill and Kingsclear to Upper Prince William.  This year 14 people took part.

Bald Eagle

The count yielded 36 species and 1965 individuals.  The group drove almost 400 km and worked about 24 hours altogether, a commendable effort.

Pine Grosbeak [N Poirier Photo]

Below are the results.  They show a rather low count for finches.  That was expected because the cone crop was low in the area.  There was an excessive number of Blue Jays in some sectors.  This was the first year we did not record any House Sparrows.  Their numbers have been dwindling for many years and normally a close look around active barns would produce some.  This year we found none.  

Surprise findings were a Brown Thrasher coming to a feeder in Upper Queensbury.  This was the first time we have had Wild Turkeys.  There was a Belted Kingfisher and a Horned Grebe at the Fish Hatchery.  A kingfisher was found only once before on a count.  We have never had a grebe before, an exciting find.  There was a lot of open water there so it must have been finding food.  Undoubtedly the cold weather will drive it to the coast.

Canada Goose							0
Am Black Duck	120					20	140
Mallard	5						5
Common Goldeneye							0
Hooded Merganser						1	1
Common Merganser	16					8	24
Wild Turkey				6			6
Horned Grebe	1						1
Bald Eagle			1	1	3	3	8
Sharp-shinned Hawk				1			1
Red-tailed Hawk							0
Rough-legged Hawk							0
Ruffed Grouse							0
Herring Gull	1					4	5
Great Black-backed Gull	2					22	24
Rock Pigeon		24	3	260		2	289
Mourning Dove	8	1	7	37		15	68
Belted Kingfisher	1						1
Downy Woodpecker	1		5	11	1		18
Hairy Woodpecker	2	1	10	11	2		26
Pileated Woodpecker						1	1
Blue Jay	5	6	45	128	37	4	225
American Crow	19	27	5	35	4	13	103
Common Raven	2	6	11	8	4		31
Black-capped Chickadee	25	18	65	179	14	12	313
Red-breasted Nuthatch		2	3	6			11
White-breasted Nuthatch	1		5	11		1	18
Brown Creeper			1	2			3
Golden-crowned Kinglet							0
American Robin			1			1	2
Brown Thrasher				1			1
European Starling	17			77	200	12	306
Bohemian Waxwing				15			15
Snow Bunting							0
American Tree Sparrow	2		6	26	2		36
White-throated Sparrow			2				2
Dark-eyed Junco	2		3	13	2		20
Northern Cardinal			1	3			4
Pine Grosbeak			30	2			32
Purple Finch			2				2
White-winged Crossbill							0
Common Redpoll							0
Pine Siskin	15						15
American Goldfinch	48	11	48	48		20	175
Evening Grosbeak	12		2	15		4	33
House Sparrow							0
					Total birds		1965
					No. species		36

  

With ever decreasing funds available for biological and environmental research, citizen science is becoming more and more important.  Christmas bird counts have been done in New Brunswick since they first began in the early 1900s.  We have accumulated a large body of data for New Brunswick, more than some other provinces.  Many thanks to birders all over the province and especially to those who helped with this count. 

American Robin

Silver Maple

Giant Silver Maple Graces Landscape

Silver Maple

Off Route 105 in the Sheffield area there is a tree I admire.  As we drive by it doesn't at first stand out among the hundreds of maples, elms and ashes growing along the St. John River.  It blends in well.  But when we take notice, wow, this is a BIG tree.

The Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum) usually grows on rich bottomlands along the edges of streams, rivers, swamps, and lake.  It is fast growing reaching maturity in 125 years.  It reaches 60 to 80 ft high (20-25m) and 2 to 3 ft (up to 1 m) dbh (diameter at breast height).  It usually has a short bole which divides into several upright branches.  It recovers well from periods of inundation making it an excellent floodplain species.  Notice in the photo above the huge bole and the separation into many branches above.  This tree is growing in a floodplain.

Silver Maple

The photo above shows the giant size of this tree.  It is indeed much larger than the 3 ft dbh.  It is much larger than my full length arm span.  Notice the shaggy bark.  It is a gray colour and has loose vertical bands.  The bark is made up of loose scaly plates that are fastened in the middle and loose on the ends, hence the shagginess.

The Silver Maple leaves are 10 to 15 cm (4"-6") in diameter, deeply palmated (shaped like a hand),  5-lobed usually, pale green above and silvery below.  In the fall they turn yellow.  The Silver Maple is the first to flower, usually in late winter or early spring, before any leaves appears.  The flowers are yellowish and appear before the red maple flowers.

Silver Maple Leaf [Trees in Canada, Farrar]

Shown above is the typical Silver Maple leaf.  The notches between the lobes are deep.  The lobes are serrated.  The leaf is widest at the base.

The Silver Maple is sometimes used as an ornamental tree.  It is not well suited for this purpose, however, because it is brittle and breaks easily in the wind and it sheds its seeds making it messy in your yard.  It also supports a heavy root system which sometimes clogs drain and sewer pipes.

The species has historical significance in our area.  It has made firewood for our inhabitants for 400 years.  I suspect it is the reason Sugar Island got its name (my opinion).  Sugar Island gets flooded every year and I doubt if Sugar Maple ever grew well there.  It is likely that the early inhabitants living on Sugar and Shore Islands made maple sugar from the Silver Maple.

The trunks of Silver Maples often become hollow.  These cavities provide nesting and den sites for mammals and birds.  We often see evidence of their use by squirrels, raccoons, wood ducks, and great horned owls.  They are an integral part of the environment.

I noticed something special about the tree photographed above.  It is a 'corner tree'.  There was a property stake beside it, making it a venerable old marker of a property line.  May you long live, Mr. Silver Maple!

Northern Cardinal

Brilliant Colour in the Winter Landscape

Northern Cardinal

 A welcome sight in our bleak winter landscape is the brilliant male Northern Cardinal.  The scarlet colour set off by the black mask and bib delights the receptors in our retinas.  Metaphorically it offers hope for spring and better things to come.

The cardinal is unmistakable with its brilliant red body and crest.  It has a longish tail and an orange red bill.  The female is more subdued with yellows and oranges.  The male cardinal sings beautifully usually from an exposed perch.  The song is a liquid musical sound, denoted sometimes by 'cue, cue, cue, cheer, cheer, cheer or purty, purty, purty' (National Geographic Complete Book of Birds).

Northern Cardinal

While doing a Christmas bird count recently we were twitching a clump of trees at the roadside in the Mactaquac area and out popped a male cardinal!  He stayed long enough to give us ample time to enjoy his beauty and to get the above photos.  That was the third cardinal we found on that count.

The cardinal prefers field, woodland, and stream edges, swamps and urban gardens.  It readily comes to feeders preferring black oil sunflower seeds.  They are such a delight to see, it is well worth trying to entice them to your yard.

Northern Cardinal

Bohemian Waxwings Arrive

Abundant Winter Fruit Brings Waxwings

Bohemian Waxwing [Brian Stone Photo]

This is a winter of abundant wild fruit.  The apple, mountain ash, wild cherry, cranberry, and other edible wild bushes are laden with fruit.  This brings flocks of fruit-eating birds to our area.  

Last week I visited the Post Office on Hughes Street and was treated to a display of Bohemian Waxwings second to none.  There were about 75 birds feeding on the crab apples in the two trees in front of the building.  Many more were resting in the trees in the hedgerow behind the building.  They were emitting their constant twitters and chatter.  It was wonderful to listen and watch.  

Bohemian Waxwings

Bohemian Waxwings normally travel in large flocks and are here only in winter.  They breed in summer in Alaska and the northern parts of Canada and spend their winters wandering around the more southern regions of Canada and northern US.  They are a holarctic species being abundant also in northern Europe and Asia.  

The group of Bohemian Waxwings shown above is only a small part of the whole group.  They were resting on a cold day,  having fed heavily on wild grapes along the river bank. 

Bohemian Waxwing

The Bohemian Waxwing (18 cm long) is a little bit larger than our Cedar Waxwing, a common summer resident.  They eat mostly fruit in winter but also eat insects and flower parts in summer.  They are very beautiful with their gray upperparts, pink-gray crest, black mask and chin, and gray underparts.  Their wings are black with a yellow or white line.  The tail is dark and has a yellow tip.  The cinnamon brown under the tail is a distinguishing feature, differentiating it from the Cedar Waxwing.  The red 'wax' on the wings is brilliant and a feature unique to waxwings.  It is really a bead-like tip to the secondary feather.

The Bohemian Waxwing has an extremely large range here in North America and gets its name from its nomadic life style.  Large flocks are normal and they range widely looking for suitable food and shelter.  We are lucky to have them here this winter.  I have seen several flocks ranging in size from 30 to over 100 in the Fredericton area.  Watch for them.  I often realize that they are in the area by hearing their chatter and then start looking.  I hope you can find them, too.

Common Shelduck

Very Rare European Ducks Arrive

Common Shelducks

Three very rare ducks were discovered at Saints Rest Marsh, Saint John this week.  On Tuesday, December 20, we visited the marsh and found them, along with several other keen birders.  It was a very cold day and wind from the marsh was flesh-freezing but the birders were excited to see such beautiful and rare visitors.

Common Shelducks

The ducks were feeding about 400 metres away from our nearest viewing site, making it very difficult to get good photos.  Even though it was so bitterly cold, they were were comfortably feeding and moving around.  There were many other birds there also:  Black Ducks, Mallards, Buffleheads, Herring Gulls, Common Mergansers.  

I was struck by the beauty of these ducks.  There appeared to be two males and a female.  The excessive white on these birds is eye-catching among our waterfowl.  The dark green head appears black at a distance.  The deep red bill is very fine and slightly upturned.  The female's bill is more orange.  The brilliant chestnut breast band goes over the back and turns to black and runs down each side of the back with white in between, the chestnut showing again on the back at the posterior of the primary feathers.  The bird has white sides and a large chestnut patch on the vent.  There is also a black or chestnut stripe (I could not distinguish which) on the belly.  The legs and feet are pink or orange.

The two photos above show the actual birds observed.  Shown below is an internet photo showing a close-up of a male and female.  Some males have a red knob on the upper front of their bill.  Our three visitors did not show this knob.

Common Shelducks [Internet Photo]

The Common Shelduck is a native of Europe.  It is found year-round in the British Isles and the northern coast of France, Germany and Netherlands.  It also spends summers and breeds along the coast of Norway and Sweden.  It winters along the northern and southern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea.  

The Birds of New Brunswick: An Annotated Checklist does not mention the Common Shelduck.  If there have been previous sightings, they were obviously considered escapes from zoos, etc.  I don't recall this species ever being seen here before (and I have been birding for a long time).  I believe it is a first for the province.  Some will say the sighting is not 'countable' (not accepted as a true wild occurrence of the species) but I believe these are truly wild Common Shelducks which somehow ended up here rather than along the south shore of the Mediterranean.  We have had other unusual vagrants from Europe this year (Pink-footed Goose).  Their behaviour seemed typical for wild birds.  Perhaps we will know with more certainty in time.