Nature Moncton Nature News

Tuesday 23 April 2024

April 23 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

April 23, 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

** Roger Dumaresq shares a very interesting report from that very special place in northern New Brunswick.

Roger reports the Sandhill Cranes are back in Black Rock. He saw two of them, most probably a couple, in a field in Upper Black Rock on Sunday afternoon.

Also, the Razorbills are now on their nesting site in Pokeshaw at the sea stack there. Their number is around 40, increasing each year.

Hopefully, this report will get some long-distance non-disturbing cameras to the site to share the action.

**Louise Nichols was out in their yard and woods on Sunday taking photos of whatever small creatures she could see. She came across a small Long-jawed Orb Weaver Spider and after photographing it, she realized it had some sort of very small fly as prey. A few minutes later she saw another tiny spider (only about one millimeter) which BugGuide helped identify as a Sheetweaver Spider. She lifted a lucky log to find a Red-backed Salamander underneath, thinking it was an earthworm for a moment. She also took a couple of photos of a Bee Fly resting on a twig in the woods.

(Editor’s note: the Sheetweaver Spider is well-named. This very small spider creates incredible-sized sheets of web, making the area look like it has been covered by a sheet.)

** Richard Blacquiere reports bird life is slowly changing at the Hampton lagoon ponds. The overall number of waterfowl seems to be declining; the ponds don’t look nearly as crowded as they did a few weeks ago. But there is still plenty to be seen including scaup, Bufflehead, Ring-necked Duck, Common Goldeneye, American Wigeon, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, and Wood Duck.

In just the last few days, a pair of Blue-winged Teal have been regulars in Spooner Pond, the small wetland by the parking lot. Richard is also seeing more lone male Mallard Ducks suggesting many females have already gone off to start nesting. The Ruddy Duck hasn’t been seen in days. A Pied-billed Grebe is back on the middle pond; last year, a pair of Grebes successfully fledged two broods on that pond. A few Canada Geese are lingering – Richard hopes they leave soon. Great Blue Herons and Osprey are now seen daily.

Tree Swallow numbers are growing, with some showing interest in nest boxes generously provided by the Nature Moncton manufacturing facility. Barn Swallows are back and part of the swallow swarm feeding over the ponds.

**Frank Branch spotted a small group of Greater Yellowlegs at Hay Island on Sunday. They are taking a bit of a repose there as Aldo Dorio spotted them again on Monday.

**David Cannon pulled his first two salamanders of the year out of his pool on Monday. The very first was a Yellow-Spotted Salamander which posed nicely for a photo. The second was a Red-backed Salamander.

**Those folks lucky to have a pair of Ring-necked Pheasants in their yard are very much enjoying the antics of the cock trying to impress a female, often with very muted return interest.

Sterling Marsh shares some of the activity of his pair.

**As reported yesterday, the Riverfront cleanup on Sunday was a big success and it is very notable that the City of Moncton Mayor Dawn Arnold (arrowed in the photo) took time from her busy schedule to join the cleanup troupe.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nature Moncton

GREATER YELLOWLEGS. APRIL 22, 2024. ALDO DORIO

WOOD DUCK (PAIR). APRIL 21, 2024. RICHARD BLACQUIERE

BLUE-WINGED TEAL (PAIR). APRIL 22, 2024. RICHARD BLACQUIERE

AMERICAN WIGEON. APRIL 21, 2024. RICHARD BLACQUIERE

COMMON GOLDENEYE (MALE). APRIL 21, 2024. RICHARD BLACQUIERE

GREEN-WINGED TEAL (MALE) APRIL 21, 2024. RICHARD BLACQUIERE

TREE SWALLOW. APRIL 22, 2024. RICHARD BLACQUIERE

GREAT BLUE HERON. APRIL 22, 2024. RICHARD BLACQUIERE

RING-NECKED PHEASANT (PAIR). APRIL 22, 2024. STERLING MARSH

RING-NECKED PHEASANT (MALE). APRIL 22, 2024. STERLING MARSH

YELLOW-SPOTTED SALAMANDER. APRIL 21, 2024. DAVID CANNON

RED-BACKED SALAMANDER. APRIL 21, 2024. LOUISE NICHOLS

BEE FLY. APRIL 21, 2024. LOUISE NICHOLS

LONG-JAWED ORB WEAVER SPIDER (TETRAGNATHA) WITH PREY. APRIL 21, 2024. LOUISE NICHOLS

SHEETWEAVER SPIDER (LINYPHIIDAE). APRIL 21, 2024. LOUISE NICHOLS

NATURE MONCTON CLEAN-UP CREW. APRIL 21, 2024. GEORGES BRUN.

Monday 22 April 2024

April 22 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

April 22, 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

** Frank Branch spotted four Greater Yellowlegs Sunday afternoon at Hay Island in Neguac, a first for this year for him.

(Editor’s note: Greater Yellowlegs do not nest in New Brunswick but a portion of them do use the Atlantic flyway to reach their more northern breeding grounds. We sometimes see them making brief stopovers as Frank did on Sunday.)

** Cathy and Isabelle Simon helped to count migrating seabirds at the Point Lepreau Bird Observatory on Saturday, April 20, 2024. They counted 18 species and over 1500 individuals. The highlight of the morning was watching a small flock of Harlequin Ducks navigating the large waves directly in front of the observatory.

**Richard Blacquiere leaves a mini report from Hampton. On Sunday morning he had his first Savannah Sparrow of the year, and he got a pleasant photograph of a brightly plumaged male Yellow-rumped Warbler.

**Georges Brun photographed a Harbour Porpoise that was perhaps 75 feet from his location down at the Landing and must have been dining on fish at the mouth of Halls Creek in the Petitcodiac River. It was moving in an area of approximately 100 m from him. It startled him while he was talking to some die-hard Tidal Bore watchers.

(Editor’s note: Georges's photo of a Harbour Porpoise is the most any of us will probably ever see of this mammal as it quickly surfaces for a breath of air and shows the sickle-shaped dorsal fin. It is aquatic never coming on land.)

Georges also photographed an adult Bald Eagle monitoring the river.

**Georges Brun shares a screenshot of the Peregrine Falcons when the male was handing off his duties to his mate early in the morning. The family is looking to be in fine shape.

**Brian Stone made his first trip into the wooded area behind Crandall University on Gorge Rd. on Sunday afternoon. The first photo subject to appear was a vocal Eastern Phoebe followed by a stealthy American Robin. A short way along one of the dirt bike trails, in a grove of small pine trees, Brian found another colony of ground-dwelling Unequal Cellophane Bees swarming along the ground, landing in the pine trees, and occasionally mating.

(Editor's note: a consistent feature of the Eastern Phoebe that we don't get to see in still photos is the constantly bobbing tail.)

A few other photo subjects were a small, tennis ball-sized nest, a Tri-coloured Bumblebee, a Water Strider on the larger vernal pond/pool, and a small nest of tiny ants that were discovered under a sheltering sheet of plastic.

(Editor's note: the tennis ball-sized nest in Brian's photo is the style constructed by the Yellow Warbler. Alder tongue gall (arrowed) appears beside the nest. This fungal plant pathogen (Taphrina ulni) is a common occurrence of female Alder catkins.)

**Sunday was a beautiful day to take action for nature! Twenty hard-working Nature Moncton members and friends picked up approximately 20 bags worth of garbage on 1.5 km of the Moncton Riverfront trail. Now the local wildlife and trail users will benefit from a cleaner environment and all that garbage will not end up in our waterways. Thank you to everyone who helped out!

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nature Moncton