Nature Moncton Nature News

Thursday 18 April 2024

April 18 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

April 18, 2024

Nature Moncton members as well as any naturalist in New Brunswick or beyond are invited to share their photos and descriptions of recent nature sightings to build a fresh (almost) daily edition of Nature News

To respond by e-mail, please address your message to the information line editor, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com .

Please advise both the editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com and the proofreader nicholsl@eastlink.ca if any errors are noted in wording or photo labelling.

For more information on Nature Moncton, check the website at www.naturemoncton.com .

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

The live feed to the Peregrine Falcon nest box camera can be accessed at https://www.zoodemagnetichillzoo.ca/nest-cam

**Lance Harris visited Highland Park in Salisbury and noted a community of Muskrats very actively foraging on what appeared to be old-growth cattails but one can be assured that the emerging roots were fresh and very delectable to muskrats.

(Editor's note: the cattail root/shoot is a popular spring edible with some folks, often compared to asparagus. The editor has sampled this in restaurants but asparagus wins the contest in his opinion!)

** Shannon Inman's photo of a Red-belted Polypore mushroom did not insert in the photo lineup in yesterday’s edition. I am adding it today as it is an excellent photo to recognize this mushroom species.

**The very pleasant Bloodroot plant is one of our spring ephemeral plants that are suddenly starting to burst into beautiful bloom at the moment and will soon disappear completely above ground level and not be seen until this time next spring.

Gart Bishop shares a photo of a Bloodroot he noted on the banks of the Kennebecasis River just below their house in Apohaqui. He had searched the day before and could find no evidence of them, so the photo indicates one day's growth, which is notably impressive.

The Bloodroot leaves will fold over the flower on cool nights and cloudy days to protect it, bursting forth when the Sun shines.

**On Wednesday, after a photo shoot with a mosquito on his back deck, Brian Stone drove to Memramcook to check out the Arthur St./Grand Pre St. lagoon for any new arrivals. He found it to still be populated by mainly large numbers of Ring-necked Ducks with some scaup (too distant to ID), a couple of Gadwall Ducks, one pair of Northern Pintail Ducks, and several Black Scoters.

After Memramcook, Brian stopped in at Mapleton Park and increased his photo numbers with Canada Geese, Black-capped Chickadees, and Song Sparrows.

Brian had a tie for "bird of the day" with a colourful male Wood Duck and a curious male Ruby-crowned Kinglet at the main pond. We don't often get to see that small patch of red on the crown of the male bird.

Also at the main pond, Brian noticed the large, bright pink flowering Daphne shrub (Daphne mezereum).

(Editor’s note: this plant was brought from Europe by early settlers due to the brilliant floral show it produces in very early spring and is therefore sometimes found around old homesteads. It produces a bright red cluster of berries. Unfortunately, both the flowers and berries are toxic to humans.)

Brian shares a link below on this plant that is not cultivated today due to its toxic principles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daphne_mezereum

Also at Mapleton Park, Brian photographed the newly opening buds of the Red Elderberry plant and saw that the Beaver dam on Hall's Creek near the Gorge Rd entrance had a breached section that was causing a strong rush of water that was eroding a large scoop out of the side of the bank beside it.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nature Moncton

RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET. (MALE). APRIL 17, 2024. BRIAN STONE

RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET (MALE). APRIL 17, 2024. BRIAN STONE

WOOD DUCK (MALE). APRIL 17, 2024. BRIAN STONE

RING-NECKED DUCKS (PAIR). APRIL 17, 2024. BRIAN STONE

NORTHERN PINTAIL DUCKS. (PAIR) APRIL 17, 2024. BRIAN STONE

CANADA GEESE. APRIL 17, 2024. BRIAN STONE

BLACK SCOTER (MALE). APRIL 17, 2024. BRIAN STONE

BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE. APRIL 17, 2024. BRIAN STONE

SONG SPARROW. APRIL 17, 2024. BRIAN STONE

MUSKRATS. APRIL 16, 2024, LANCE HARRIS

BLOODROOT PLANT. APRIL16, 2024. GART BISHOP

DAPHNE IN BLOOM. APRIL 17, 2024. BRIAN STONE

RED-BERRIED ELDER. APRIL 17, 2024. BRIAN STONE

RED-BELTED POLYPORE MUSHROOM. APRIL16, 2024. SHANNON INMAN

PUSSY WILLOW (CATKINS MATURING). APRIL 17, 2024. BRIAN STONE

BEAVER DAM BREACHED. APRIL 17, 2024. BRIAN STONE

MOSQUITO. APRIL 17, 2024. BRIAN STONE

Wednesday 17 April 2024

April 17 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

April 17, 2024

To respond by e-mail, please address your message to the information line editor, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com .

Please advise both the editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com and the proofreader nicholsl@eastlink.ca if any errors are noted in wording or photo labelling.

For more information on Nature Moncton, check the website at www.naturemoncton.com .

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

The live feed to the Peregrine Falcon nest box camera can be accessed at https://www.zoodemagnetichillzoo.ca/nest-cam

**Nature Moncton would like to thank Denis Doucet for his stellar presentation on dragonflies and damselflies at the Tuesday night Nature Moncton meeting. It was laden with interesting information and photographs as one would expect from a presentation from Denis.

Brian Stone also gave a very appreciated presentation in the second half of the meeting of his photos from the solar eclipse that very much caught the attention of the large in-house and virtual audience.

Thank you Denis and Brian for a great meeting!

Both of these presentations will be available as a recorded link and will be published in Nature News as soon as available.

** Jane LeBlanc in St. Martins looked out her kitchen window to see a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker on her maple tree. She was also surprised to see it was a female. Normally the male arrives first. In St. Martins, at a neighbour's house, she saw many Northern Flickers, and managed to get a distant flight photo nicely showing that brilliant flash of yellow.

** Lisa Morris noticed an older ‘condo’ tree on a ski/bike trail in Centennial Park. No current activity above or on the ground but she suspected the woodpeckers must have enjoyed the treats with all those holes. She was surprised not to see chickadees or squirrels ‘renting’.
(Editor’s note: I would be very surprised if we were able to look inside these cavities that we would not find evidence of Flying Squirrels or other wildlife making use of the many homes at the right price!)

**Shannon Inman photographed a group of approximately 20 Great Blue Herons that were being very vocal in the Harvey marsh area this week.
Shannon also noticed the emergent leaves of Trout Lily that get their name from the markings similar to that of the back of a Speckled Trout. This spring ephemeral plant will soon sport beautiful yellow blossoms and then all above-ground evidence of them will disappear to not be seen again until next spring.

A White-throated Sparrow posed in its finest breeding attire as well as a Red-belted Polypore mushroom which was also showing its prime identification features.

** John Inman reports he had a female Northern Cardinal drop by his Harvey yard a few days ago. John was able to get a nice photo of the polished form of the Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle and also swarms of Midges that have appeared in the last few days. The male Brown-headed Cowbirds are very entertaining as they are trying to demonstrate to the females that each of them is the most appropriate suitor.

**Jane LeBlanc was bicycling near her St. Martins home and spotted a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers. They flew in opposite directions, but she managed a very distant shot of the male.

**Norbert Dupuis was able to capture a photo in the same frame of the two American Kestrels that are in his Memramcook East neighbourhood to compare the two genders.

(Editor’s note: many of our raptors differ little in gender plumage looking quite similar except that the female is often predominantly larger. The American Kestrel is one exception with the male and female being quite different in plumage.

The Northern Harrier is another raptor in which the genders sport different plumages.

Crows don’t tend to harass American kestrels as they do other raptors; however, Norbert got a photo where a Crow seems to be harassing a female American Kestrel.)

**Penny Clark just returned to her summer cottage at McKees Mills to find a stump that had been intact when she left in the fall in complete tatters and wonders ‘who done it’. The chunks left do not seem consistent with a Pileated Woodpecker and she wonders if some other animal may have dismembered it in search of forage.

Penny also shares a photo of a Mourning Dove nest that was placed in a low conifer tree just outside of her home. The Mourning Dove is certainly not known for its nest construction engineering abilities. The nest is very fragile, just enough to hold some eggs; however, it works for the Mourning Dove as their population is doing very well!

**That very early emerging plant Skunk Cabbage is on its mission and fast. Gart Bishop photographed a beautiful example on Monday on the banks of the Hammond River. This beautiful plant is not ephemeral but will produce huge rhubarb-like leaves when flowering is complete.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nature Moncton

YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER (FEMALE). APRIL 15, 2024. JANE LEBLANC

NORTHERN FLICKER AND AMERICAN ROBIN. APRIL 15, 2024. JANE LEBLANC

PILEATED WOODPECKER. APRIL 16, 2024. JANE LEBLANC

AMERICAN KESTREL (PAIR). APRIL 16, 2024. NORBERT DUPUIS

COMMON CROW AND AMERICAN KESTREL (FEMALE). APRIL 16, 2024. NORBERT DUPUIS

GREAT BLUE HERONS. APRIL 16, 2024. SHANNON INMAN

WHITE-THROATED SPARROW. APRIL 16, 2024. SHANNON INMAN

BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS (MALE)APRIL 16, 2024. JOHN INMAN

MOURNING DOVE TREE NEST. PENNY CLARK

SKUNK CABBAGE. APRIL 16, 2024. GART BISHOP

TROUT LILY LEAVES EMERGING. APRIL 16, 2024. SHANNON INMAN

MIDGE. APRIL 16, 2024. JOHN INMAN

ASIAN MULTICOLORED LADY BEETLE (POLISHED FORM). APRIL 16, 2024. JOHN INMAN

STUMP DISMEMBERED. APRIL 16, 2024. PENNY CLARK

TREE CONDOS. APRIL 16, 2024. LISA MORRIS

Tuesday 16 April 2024

April 16 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

April 16, 2024

To respond by e-mail, please address your message to the information line editor, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com .

Please advise both the editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com and the proofreader nicholsl@eastlink.ca if any errors are noted in wording or photo labelling.

For more information on Nature Moncton, check the website at www.naturemoncton.com .

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

The live feed to the Peregrine Falcon nest box camera can be accessed at https://www.zoodemagnetichillzoo.ca/nest-cam

**The Nature Moncton meeting is coming up tonight Tuesday, April 16, and will be a double bill with all details below:

** NATURE MONCTON APRIL MEETING

Topic: “Dragonflies and Damselflies of the Maritimes”

Tuesday, April 16, 2024, at 7:00 PM

Mapleton Park Rotary Lodge

Presenter: Denis Doucet

Did you know that

New Brunswick has over 140 species of dragonflies and damselflies, which is more than is found in all of Europe!
A species of dragonfly that occurs in New Brunswick and is widespread globally actually has the longest migration of any insect, even further than the Monarch butterfly.
The order Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) is one of the oldest groups of insects found on the planet. They have been around for more than 300 million years!

Come learn more about this fascinating and very important group of insects in a rich presentation using imagery, notes, quotes, and anecdotes. Denis Doucet, a naturalist and long-time Odonata enthusiast, will undoubtedly grant us with an engaging, visually stunning, and thought-provoking talk.

This will be an in-person presentation at the Rotary Lodge with a Zoom link for those who want to join in from home.

All are welcome, Nature Moncton member or not.

Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86288656653?pwd=NWREdStjWGZxVU9sMnhhaEY1ajhYUT09

After the break, Brian Stone will give a presentation pointing out the many observations folks saw during the total solar eclipse that we have never seen before and will not be seeing again.

Brian will show a series of photos demonstrating these items so we can all get one last look to add to the memory bank of the special occasion. Both portions will be recorded and available live during the meeting at the Mapleton Lodge and online virtually at the above link for those who cannot make the live presentation at the lodge.

**Norbert Dupuis was fortunate to get a photo of a double rainbow that suddenly appeared Monday evening after a sudden shower in Memramcook. He was able to see 2 rainbows at once for the price of one. Interestingly, the second bow is fainter and more pastel, and also the colour sequence in the second bow is reversed to that of the main bow as it is indeed a reflection. Double rainbows may not be particularly uncommon but they can disappear as fast as they form to make it hard to capture a photo.

Norbert also captured some spectacular views of a female American Kestrel, catching it in flight to show her beautiful plumage and then a perched view. This is our smallest falcon and Norbert was fortunate to get photographic observations of this fast-moving bird.

**Lynn Dube was able to get a nice photograph of a perched Joker Moth (Felalia jocosa).

This is the time of year we can see this colourful moth. It overwinters as the adult, able to escape predators with its cryptic colours and incredible antifreeze capabilities. It will soon be laying eggs to produce equally colourful larval caterpillars that forage from the newly emerging buds of conifer trees. It is single-brooded to accommodate this mission to feast on freshly emerged buds.

**Jane LeBlanc sat patiently beside her St. Martins yard pond Monday afternoon and managed photos of Wood Frogs. There were at least 5 present and egg masses were seen as well.

**Aldo Dorio noted Bufflehead still present near the shore of Hay Island on Monday. They appeared to be predominately paired off and assumedly ready to head off on their northerly migration soon.

**On Monday afternoon Brian Stone revisited the Salisbury lagoons and wetland ponds to check on the large patch of Unequal Cellophane Bees and any other newly arrived wildlife that may have shown up. This time he noticed some of the Cellophane Bees were frequently mating and managed to catch some of the action in photos. Brian also noted his first sighting of a Tree Swallow checking out one of the nest boxes on the fencing around the lagoons.

A small raptor that Brian suspects was a Merlin flew past so fast that it almost avoided the camera as did a male Northern Harrier Hawk in a local field. Several male Red-winged Blackbirds had moved into the marshy area and were staking their territories. Along the river beside the ponds, a pair of vocal Bald Eagles called to each other in the close vicinity of the old eagle nest. Back at home, Brian photographed the male Ring-necked Pheasant once again in his back yard but this time he was accompanied by a female companion that he kept a close watch over.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nature Moncton