Nature Moncton Information Line

Wednesday, 8 July 2020

July 8 2020

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, July 08, 2020 (Wednesday)

To view the photos mentioned in this edition go to http://nminfoline.blogspot.ca .

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

Please advise the editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com if any errors are noted in wording or photo labelling. Note that corrections, deletions, or delayed additions may not always appear on the Info Line and email transcript but will always appear on the BlogSpot. For this reason, it is recommended that those wishing to look at historical records use the BlogSpot rather than the email transcript. The BlogSpot can always be accessed from the website.

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

Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Transcript by: Brian Stone bjpstone@gmail.com

Info Line # 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)

** Jane Leblanc shares a photo of a Wood Frog [Grenouille des bois] that was so much on our minds in April and May but now is quiet and seemingly not seen frequently. Note the dark eye mask that very quickly identifies it but there is variability in this species.

**Evan Smith sends a sequence of photos of an adult Bald Eagle taking flight from a light standard in Wickham. They usually fly away from him but this one posed for Evan and then flew directly over him to give some superb photos of this majestic bird Evan was able to capture.

**Leigh Eaton is back in Pointe du Chene for a while and put up

 bird feeders late Monday night and birds located them very early

 Tuesday morning. Purple Finches seemed very rare in Moncton but

 they were quite evident there and returned many times throughout

 the day.

The Downy Woodpeckers are also frequent visitors and one appeared to be feeding the other but both appeared to be mature.

** Aldo Dorio spotted his first LESSER YELLOWLEGS [Petit Chevalier] at Hay Island on Tuesday bringing us back to think about shorebirds for another season. Lesser Yellowlegs are suspected but the photos didn’t catch the important head/bill length comparison in some photos and bills appear slender. Corrections are welcomed. The WILLET is resident at Hay Island with SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS joining the yellowlegs. The shorebirds numbered 10-15.

He also got a photo of FIREWEED in its colourful bloom and comments that his EASTERN BLUEBIRD [Merlebleu de l'Est] pair in his Neguac yard continues to feed young. Fledging must be very soon.

** Brian Stone has been protecting the YELLOW-SPOTTED SALAMANDER [Salamandre maculée] larva that he rescued from a dried pond. In the past few weeks he has started feeding it chopped earthworms which it has taken to heartily. Brian sends a photo of it before a big feed and after showing a very full tummy!

** Recently Aldo Dorio sent a photo of some roadside foliage covered with tents of caterpillars defoliating the bushes that the tents covered. I recently noticed the same defoliation in the Sunny Corner area and collected some of the massive numbers of caterpillars in the webbed tents to identify them and the photos are attached. This is the UGLY NEST CATERPILLAR MOTH larvae and they are sure doing a number on affected foliage at the moment, especially Chokecherry. The literature comments that it is more of a cosmetic problem as the defoliated bushes will usually recover.

We have 3 commonly seen web tent caterpillar species in New Brunswick … the Eastern Tent Caterpillar tents appeared earlier in the season, the Uglynest Caterpillar nests are appearing now, and the Fall Webworm Caterpillar feeding tents will appear soon. The 3 caterpillars are readily identified on close observation.

** Pat and I made a quick stop at Hay Island on Tuesday. It was a bit of a surprise to come across a lone ASPARAGUS PLANT, the leaves giving it a feathery appearance. The plant was blooming its yellow-green flowers, hanging at random among the branches. WINTERBERRY HOLLY was also in prime bloom, showing its very small white flowers close to the branches. It was disappointing to see the boardwalk closed and in need of reparations as well as the washroom facilities locked. Hopefully it all can be repaired. One can still walk along the shoreline, the paths, and enjoy the beach.

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton

BALD EAGLE. JULY 7, 2020. EVAN SMITH

DOWNY WOODPECKER (PAIR). JULY 7, 2020. LEIGH EATON

EASTERN BLUEBIRD. JULY 7, 2020. ALDO DORIO

LESSER YELLOWLEGS. JULY 7, 2020. ALDO DORIO

SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS. JULY 7, 2020.. ALDO DORIO

WILLET. JULY 7, 2020. ALDO DORIO

PURPLE FINCH (MALES). JULY 7, 2020. LEIGH EATON

WOOD FROG. JULY 7, 2020. JANE LEBLANC

FIREWEED. JULY 7, 2020. ALDO DORIO

ASPARAGUS. JULY 7, 2020. NELSON POIRIER

ASPARAGUS BLOOMS. JULY 7, 2020. NELSON POIRIER

YELLOW-SPOTTED SALAMANDER LARVA (before lunch). JULY 07, 2020. BRIAN STONE

YELLOW-SPOTTED SALAMANDER LARVA (after lunch). JULY 07, 2020. BRIAN STONE

WINTERBERRY HOLLY BLOOMS. JULY 7, 2020. NELSON POIRIER

Tuesday, 7 July 2020

July 7 2020

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, July 7, 2020 (Tuesday)

To view the photos mentioned in this edition go to http://nminfoline.blogspot.ca .

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

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

Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Transcript by: david.cannon@rogers.com

Info Line # 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)

** Pat Fox is having a dark pelaged quite different chipmunk as a regular patron to their Upper Coverdale home and got 3 photo views. It would appear to have a melanistic factor in its DNA makeup. Pat comments that she has never seen a chipmunk of this coloration before and I don't recall ever getting any similar photos to the Nature Moncton Information Line, so I am assuming this must be rare. There sure is no problem keeping track of this individual among its kin. Reports of melanistic EASTERN CHIPMUNKS [Suisse] in the literature show them as more completely near black, so use of the term melanistic factor may well be subject to correction. Independent of what is really going on, it is indeed different!

** Chris Antle uncovered a YELLOW-SPOTTED SALAMANDER [Salamandre maculée] while clearing up some old wood, which was then left undisturbed after a quick photo. Also, Chris was hoping to report many MONARCH BUTTERFLIES [Monarque] by this time in her MILKWEED meadow, as it is very ready for visitors. Chris thought she saw a worn Monarch Butterfly on July 1st, but that has been the only one she suspected.

** Gordon Rattray reports the RED LILY BEETLE he sent a photo of yesterday, led him to check some nearby LILIES to find they were targeted and found adults which were dispatched and larvae munching the foliage. Gordon had an experience with them before and found a detergent treatment daily kept them at bay. The recipe he uses is one teaspoon of baking soda and one teaspoon of dish detergent in a litre of water for spraying the plants. The munching larvae got the spray treatment after one was photographed, and seemed to clean up the infestation quickly but will get sprayed daily. The adult Red Lily Beetle photo is reattached. Gordon also sends a few plants blooming at the moment: the BROAD-LEAFED ARROWHEAD, and HEDGE BINDWEED, which resembles cultivated MORNING GLORY.

** Aldo Dorio got a photo of a SKIPPER on July 5th which needed Jim Edsall's confirmation on, which he confirmed as a DUN SKIPPER [Hespérie rurale] with a photo attached today.

**Lois Budd shares photos from Monday morning and a couple of nights ago. She has a Raccoon who likes to climb a dead Elm tree, sit on a wire cage which is open right now as it is a winter beef fat feeder for the woodpeckers. It makes a delightful summer seat for a coon enjoying cake suet.

Lois also put a large cuttlebone out last winter and left it there for the summer. It gets enjoyed by the Pileated Woodpecker in winter but first time I have seen anything enjoying this summer and it seems this young Hairy Woodpecker is finding it quite to his liking. (Editor's note - cuttlebone is from the skeleton of a cephalopods, such as squids and octopuses that is sold in pet stores and used for domestic caged birds as a calcium source and to keep beaks sharpened and worn. An interesting addition to a bird feeder yard!)

Brian Donovan is an avid trail camera user in Miramichi and gets some incredible photos. One trail camera he especially likes is the Apeman model that Brian points out is on special at the moment and sends the link below. I got one of these units on Brian's advice and experience and find it works well after learning how to use it properly which is the case for any camera. Thank you Brian for the alert.

https://www.amazon.ca/APEMAN-Waterproof-Wildlife-Monitoring-Security/dp/B07K9MJW8B/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2UQMPLL1AD83I&dchild=1&keywords=apeman+trail+camera+20mp&qid=1594080709&sprefix=apeman+20mp+%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-3

Brian Stone just heard about a comet, Comet NEOWISE, two days ago and thought he would give it a very early Tuesday morning at dawn and see if the clouds would give him a break. And did they ever! Very low on the horizon, to the left of bright Venus, was this wonderful comet that is the best comet that he has seen in a long time, 7 years or more. He could just barely make it out with the naked eye it was that good. The camera picked it up even better, but a good dslr would have done a much better job even.

Brian shares several views of it, from wide angle to full zoom.

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton

CHIPMUNK. (DARK PELAGE). JULY 6, 2020. PAT FOX

COMET NEOWISE. JULY 07, 2020. . BRIAN STONE

YELLOW-SPOTTED SALAMANDER. JULY 6, 2020. CHRIS ANTLE

RED LILY BEETLE ( Lilioceris lilii). JULY 4, 2020. GORDON RATTRAY

RED LILY BEETLE LARVA. JULY 6, 2020. GORDON RATTRAY

HAIRY WOODPECKER TO CUTTLEBONE. JULY 7, 2020. LOIS BUDD

DUN SKIPPER. JULY 5, 2020. ALDO DORIO

HEDGE BINDWEED. JULY 6, 2020. GORDON RATTRAY

BROAD-LEAVED ARROWHEAD. JULY 6, 2020. GORDON RATTRAY

RACCOON, SUET CAGE, AND CUTTLEBONE. JULY 7, 2020. LOIS BUDD

Monday, 6 July 2020

July 6 2020

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, July 6, 2020 (Monday)

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

Please advise the editor if any errors are noted in wording or photo labeling. Note that corrections, deletions, or delayed additions may not always appear on the info line and e-mail transcripts but will always appear on the BlogSpot. For this reason, it is recommended that those wishing to look at historical records use the BlogSpot rather than an email transcript. The BlogSpot can always be accessed from the website.

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

Edited by: Nelson Poirier, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Transcript by David Christie, maryspt@mac.com

INfo Line #: 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)

Gordon Rattray sent a photo of a suspected pupal case on June 27. He set it aside and it emerged as a EYE-SPOTTED LADY-BEETLE on July 4. Photos are attached of both stages, adult and pupal case.

Gordon also got a nice photo of a VIRGINIA CTENUCHA MOTH, one we can expect to see a lot of over the next month, day-flying and often confused as a butterfly.

Gordon also got a photo of the RED LILY-BEETLE, a beetle that is very unwelcome to folks cultivating lilies, because they are serious lily defoliators. The egg masses are bright orange.

He also got a nice photo of a PECK'S SKIPPER, showing the squarish rectangular spots filling most of the hind wing as well as the FLOWER LONGHORN BEETLE, another of our colourful longhorn beetles.

** Richard Perron and Rhéal Vienneau came across a moth day-perched on July 1 that they had never noticed before. It appears to be the SAW-WING MOTH in the Euchlaena genus, but some species in this group do look similar.

** Aldo Dorio sends photos of the TRICOLORED BUMBLEBEE, one of our more common bumble-bee species, enjoying SPREADING DOGBANE, a very popular, abundantly loaded with nectar, plant in full bloom at the moment. A photo of SELF-HEAL, also known as Heal-all, is included. Also an ATLANTIS FRITILLARY butterfly was flying and looks fresh.

** Brian Stone sends some photos he shares from Saturday. He again visited the BALD EAGLE nest off Mapleton Road, to find a very well-developed single eaglet.

He got a great photo of the weekend's full moon. Brown-eyed Susan was blooming at its best,

He photographed several birds. They are apparently fledglings by their rough, un-kempt plumage.

Check the attached video below of a HUMMINGBIRD-CLEARWING MOTH enjoying the now blooming COMMON MILKWEED patch, off Gorge Road by the on-ramp to the highway there. It is in full bloom.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/61m22f2c8tg02ie/%21%20Hummingbird%20Clearwing%20Moth.mp4?dl=0

** I noted a brightly coloured, orange and black 10 mm long bug in my Common Milkweed on Sunday. IT turns out to be the EASTERN MILKWEED-BUG and is brightly coloured to let predators know that it tastes bad because it apparently feeds on the sap of the milkweed, not necessarily defoliating the plant, like some other milkweed beetles do. A photo is attached that should make it unmistakable.

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com