Page 15 - Giv'er Miramichi Magazine - Christmas-Winter Giver 2024

commonly seen passing through western NB.
Another northern breeding species is the American
Golden Plover, seen during its south ward migration
on Hay Island, Neguac. This individual was still in its
breeding plumage and is very similar to its “cousin”,
the more common Black-bellied Plover.
The American Coot is a medium sized wetlands
bird, that occasionally visits the area and paid a brief
visit to Miramichi Marsh this spring, again at the
extreme of its usual more southerly range.
Those who maintain bird feeders in their garden, or
yard, from time to time are treated with brief visits from
such birds as the Indigo Bunting and Rose-breasted
Grosbeak. Northern Cardinals are being seen a little
more often in north-east NB, but to see juveniles of this
species is rare. Indigo Bunting
In July of this year an albino Chipping Sparrow
was observed in Nelson, on St. Patrick’s Drive. This is
a common species of course but its appearance was very
unusual.
These special sightings often take place because
they happen in locations frequently visited by people.
Birders however also go searching in other more remote
spots. Checking out Ballast Island, just off-shore from
Douglastown, a Lapland Longspur and Harlequin
Duck were seen last May.
There are many birds whose remote habitat is deep
in the woodlands, not places people get to on a regular
basis, so sightings of these birds are not made often.
These birds include American Three-toed
Woodpeckers, Bicknell’s Thrush and Boreal
Chickadees. Of course there are a number of owl American Golden Plover
species, but due to habitat and their mostly nocturnal
behaviour, any sighting is considered rare. A Great
Horned Owl was heard in a couple of locations nearby
last winter.
Not quite in the immediate Miramichi region there
are two rare birds worth mentioning. In February, in the
Tabusintac area, a bird that spends summer in Florida
and winters even further south, the Purple Gallinule,
was found on a lawn in the snow. How it arrived there,
then, no one knows. A valiant rescue attempt
unfortunately failed and the bird died at a wildlife
recovery centre. More positively a Wilson’s Plover
was found at the Cormierville Marsh, south of
Bouctouche, the first such sighting in NB.
More than two dozen sightings of birds considered
rare were made in the Miramichi region so far this past Above: A rare sight, an albino Chipping Sparrow was spotted in
year. Many visits are during the spring and fall Nelson this past summer, on St. Patrick’s Drive.
migrations where some birds can get a little lost,

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