Rare Birds alerts will be posted on this page as they become available.

Sighting June 4, 2011
SWALLOW-TAILED KITE

About an hour ago I was driving home on the Hammond River Road here in Hammond River when a raptor crossed the road some distance in front of me, at treetop level. I could see only its silhouette as it soared past. I first thought it was a Northern Harrier but something about it as it disappeared brought me to full alert. I wondered if it could have been a Swallow-tailed Kite. Fortunately, I was able to turn left at the next intersection and follow the general direction of the bird's flight, which was toward the southwest. As I turned the corner and was searching for it in the sky I reached for my camera and turned it on.  I spotted it almost immediately and drove after it. The bird had gained a lot of altitude in this short time and was now quite high in the sky, gliding southwest swiftly with the wind. I recognized it immediately as a SWALLOW-TAILED KITE. Fortunately, it flew parallel to the road and I was to overtake it (forgetting the speed limit).


Jim Wilson

Sighting April 14, 2011
PURPLE MARTIN [Hirondelle noire]

David Christie and Mary Majka dropped down the Grey Island Road in Hills borough to check on the BALD EAGLE [Pygargue à tête blanche] nest there on Wednesday evening to find an adult deep in the bowl of the nest and a second adult perched on the branch of the nest tree, a white pine tree. A PINE WARBLER [Paruline des pins] was foraging among the bushes and chipping in low shrubbery along the edge of the road. As they drove further to the river some BARN SWALLOWS [Hirondelle rustique] around a manure pile caught their attention and especially one that appeared very obviously much larger than its travel mates. Dave soon realized it was a MARTIN and its plumage was showing a white under-carriage and a different blue on the back than Dave expected from a PURPLE MARTIN [Hirondelle noire]. A bird alert went out at 5.30pm to let some of us get more observations of it before it flew across the river towards the area of between Pré-D'en-Haut and Beaumont. Some photos were taken however heavy cloud and on-coming rain made that difficult. Dave has studied the photos with references and other folks' opinion. At this point a second year female PURPLE MARTIN has not been ruled out and may have to stay at that as the bird has very likely moved on. A very interesting bird to see and study and great to see that the Nature Moncton Rare Bird Alert line worked so well this time. A vocal RUSTY BLACKBIRD [Quiscale rouilleux] was nearby vocalizing and pleasant to hear.

Sighting August 27, 2011
RUFF (Combattant varié)

Yesterday morning I checked a traditional shorebird roosting site used primarily by Black-bellied Plovers in mowed hayfields along St. Thomas Street (Route 925) in the Saint-Joseph area of Memramcook. There were about 230 Black-bellied Plover feeding in those fields when I checked at 10:15am along with a Pectoral Sandpiper and one larger, dumpy and very buffy sandpiper that I saw only briefly but which strongly reminded me of a juvenile Ruff.

I returned again this morning, arriving at 10:45am, and found the large number of Black-bellied Plovers present again. After about ten minutes of carefully scanning the flock with my telescope I once again found the target shorebird and was able to get good views in the open to confirm that it was indeed a juvenile RUFF (Combattant varié). I was able to track it for about 30 minutes as it fed among the plovers, usually in company with a couple of Pectoral Sandpipers.

The bird is intermediate in size between Pectoral Sandpiper and Black-bellied Plover, rather stocky, rather long-legged, golden buffy on the foreneck and breast, fairly long necked and small headed with a large dark eye. In flight the bird showed a weak wing-stripe and bold white ovals on the sides of the rump. I was able to get distant poor-quality photos which I'll post if I'm unable to get better shots tomorrow (hopefully someone equipped to digiscope might try tomorrow?).

Directions: From the intersection of Routes 106 and 925 in the College Bridge area of Memramcook turn onto Route 925 (St. Thomas Street) and drive over the Memramcook River and start watching the mowed fields on your left (to the south) for roosting shorebirds which are often accompanied by Ring-billed Gulls. High tide is definitely the best time to search. Tomorrow the high tide will be around noon so I would think that 10:30am to 1pm would be best.

Sighting August 29, 2011
ROYAL TERN,

The Royal Tern remained on Waterside Beach until at least 5:45pm at which time I drove down the road to find a location with a better cell phone signal. I was only gone about ten minutes but when I returned the tern was nowhere to be seen. Catherine Johnson, Norm Belliveau, Rose-Alma Mallet, Merv Cormier and I searched Waterside Beach and Alma Harbour until dark but no luck.

Sighting November 14, 2011
PROTHONOTARY WARBLER [Paruline orangée]

Roger LeBlanc and Alain Clavette found a Prothonotary Warbler [Paruline orangée] at Hebron, which is on Route 915 between Alma and Waterside. They watched it for about 5 minutes, then lost it.

The location is along Route 915, 2.3 km west of the junction of Dennis Beach Road, where an old road, which is partly blocked by a load of soil, turns left towards the bay and goes to a dilapidated old house. The Prothonotary Warbler was around some apple trees along that road part way in towards the house.

Coming along Route 114 towards Alma, take Dennis Beach Road to the left, then turn right on Route 915 and go the 2.3 km.  Traveling Route 915 from Alma, after Town's End Photography studio, which is on the left, watch on the right for a deteriorating old house in a low area on the right. A bit beyond you'll come to the old access road for that house.

Sighting November 30, 2011

GREAT GRAY OWL [Chouette lapone] was seen at Riverview, late Tuesday afternoon in woods between Gunningsville Boulevard and the Moncton Golf Club -- near ponds about halfway back from the clubhouse to the back end of the golf course.

Ralph White was particularly impressed by the owl's size; he noted its rounded head, yellow eyes, and long barred tail.

Best chance to see it would seem to be in the 4:30 p.m. to dark period along the woods edges by Gunningsville Blvd. or from the golf course.  This bird may be just passing through but if it does stick around it can travel quite a bit from day to day. In a period of more than a month, the Great Gray that was seen at Hopewell Cape, c. 15 years ago, was seen at various places over a 5 km diameter.

Sighting  December 2, 2011

Louis-Emile Cormier telephoned this afternoon to report a male and a
probable female CANVASBACK in the sewage lagoon in Bouctouche. The birds
were located in the cell which is closest to the river.

Sighting  December 2, 2011
SWAINSON'S HAWK [Buse de Swainson]

Jean-Marc Cormier and I found the hawk around 11:30 am (December 4). Our views were not the best but I felt that the bird was likely a juvenile light morph Swainson's. I called in reinforcements for a second opinion and shortly we were joined by Norm Belliveau, Gilles Belliveau, Rose-Alma Mallet, Caroline Arsenault and Nicole Landry who happened to be birding in the vicinity. After better and closer views in flight we collectively agreed that the bird had to be a Swainson's and then put out the alert. Quite a number of birders saw the bird during the afternoon until at least 3:30pm. Good photos were obtained by Gilles Belliveau, Merv Cormier and Alain Clavette among others.

Here is one of Gilles' photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ stubirdnb/6457154821/in/ photostream

Directions: coming from Moncton on Route 114 go past the general store in Hopewell Hill and then take the first road to your left. It is signposted "Old Rte. 114 Rd."  Drive past the only house on this road and follow the dirt road sharply to the left and out onto the open agricultural marshland. There will be cattle fencing on both sides of the road but after a few hundred meters the fencing on the right side of the road ends. Stop just past here and scan the ground and posts along the river to your right. The hawk ranged from here to a location a few hundred meters further up the road where there are fenceposts on the right again. It spent much of its' time on the ground, often walking around, but also perched often on low fenceposts along or near the riverbank.

Coming from Alma on Route 114 watch for the roadside covered bridge on your right just to the east of Riverside-Albert and take the first road to your right (Old Rte 114 Rd.) and follow the directions above.

I would think there Is a very good chance that the bird will be present in this area for a few days at least. If you go searching please report your results (positive or negative) to NatureNB as soon as possible.

Good Birding,

Stu Tingley
Shediac, NB