Events
Spring Duck Outing
Location: Sackville Sewage Lagoon, Retention Ponds and Waterfowl Park
Date and start time: Saturday, May 30, at 9:30 AM
Hosts: Gwen Clark and Jessica Belanger-Mainville
Spring in New Brunswick is a perfect time to appreciate one of the most striking groups of birds, the ducks, as they return to New Brunswick to breed or pass through on their northward migration. The Sackville Sewage Lagoon, Retention Ponds and Waterfowl Park offer important breeding and stopover habitat for many species, from the familiar Blue-winged Teal and Ring-necked Duck to less common visitors like Wood Ducks, Northern Shovelers, Hooded Mergansers and Northern Pintails. If you’re lucky, you may even find a rare vagrant (a species far outside its native range) like the cinnamon-headed Eurasian Wigeon!
We will start at the Sewage Lagoon and proceed to the Retention Ponds, concluding with a short walk along the boardwalk loop in Waterfowl Park. Bring a snack, water and sun protection, and don’t forget your name tag. All are welcome, Nature Moncton members and non-members alike.
Sackville meeting location: Sewage Lagoons on Crescent Street. From Moncton, take the Trans-Canada Highway and get off at exit 506 (Cattail Ridge). Continue on Cattail Ridge as it becomes Crescent Street. Where Crescent Street curves west (to the right when coming from Cattail Ridge), turn left onto the gravel road and continue to the sewage lagoons. Park along the side of the road.
Carpooling meet-up location and time: We strongly encourage carpooling from Moncton to Sackville to reduce the environmental footprint of this event. For those wishing to carpool, we will meet at the parking lot of the Sobeys on Elmwood Drive (77 Filles de Jesus Ave, Moncton) at 8:45 a.m.
END-OF-THE-YEAR BARBEQUE!
Date: Tuesday June 16, 2026, at 6:30 PM
Location: Mapleton Park Rotary Lodge
Our June meeting will continue the tradition of a fun social event with good food to celebrate the success of another fantastic fall/winter series of meeting presentations, outings and workshops! Members and non-members are invited to the Rotary Pavilion at Mapleton Park, where we will serve some delicious beef and veggie hamburgers and enjoy a picnic outdoors. Burgers and potato chips will be provided as a thank you from the executive for all your help and participation, but we would welcome any other food contributions brought for sharing (please note that this is a non-alcoholic event).
After we feast on hamburgers, we’ll go inside and watch a presentation of photos taken by participants of various nature highlights they have had throughout the year. If you would like to share some of your sightings, choose your best 10 photos and bring them on a USB stick. Photos of birds, plants and insects, as well as photos of participants on outings, are all welcome as ways to share great memories of the year.
To help us get an idea of how much food will be needed, please let us know if you plan to attend the barbeque by sending an email to outandabout4nm@gmail.com. Also indicate whether you would prefer a veggie burger, so we have an idea of how many we’ll need.
Hope to see you there. All are welcome, Nature Moncton member or not.
Upcoming Events and Presentations
-
June 17, 2026 – First Wednesday Night Walk
Other Activities
Monthly Meeting Presentations
Guest presenters provide interesting and informative presentations about a variety of nature topics. Meetings are held on the 3rd Tuesday of the month from September to June. Meetings take place at the Mapleton Rotary Lodge at 7 pm.
Field Trips
When possible, field trips are organized on a monthly basis, are often located within 1 hour’s drive from Moncton, and are often scheduled on a Saturday.
Workshops
Workshops have been on a hiatus since before the pandemic. The Activities committee is working to resume this type of event in the near future.
Wednesday Night Walks
Wednesday Night Walks take place on Wednesday evenings during the summer months. The walks tend to be at a leisurely pace, as we take time to explore whatever interesting life there is to see. This year, we plan to visit paths and trails such as Mill Creek Nature Park, Salisbury Highland Park, the Ducks Unlimited impoundment (Upper Coverdale), Sackville Water Retention Ponds, Mapleton Park, and other locations soon to be confirmed. More precise meeting instructions and further details about trail conditions will be published closer to the event. Should we be rained out, we have a Plan B: a movie night, on Zoom!
Christmas Bird Count
The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is North America’s longest-running Citizen Science project. Nature Moncton has been leading the Christmas Bird Count for the Moncton area since 1960!