Nature Moncton Information Line

Sunday, 24 October 2021

Oct 24 2021

NATURE MONCTON NATURE INFORMATION LINE, Oct. 24, 2021 (Sunday)

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.

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

Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

**After hearing and witnessing two large flocks of Canada Geese fly over his Lower Mountain Road house towards the west, the unmistakable sound of Sandhill Cranes bugling caught Brian Coyle’s attention. They were in a flock of 10, heading over a small forest towards a corn field. He waited for a half hour before venturing out. Long story short, they saw him before Brian saw them and after one bugle they took flight. They flew off to the west, then south, and then incredibly, back towards the field. He crouched down motionless in his full camo gear, not showing his face, hoping that they would land again. The flock flew right over him at least 10 times, bugling all the while. He assumed they were trying to determine if he was a threat. Alas, they finally left the field and headed east but will be checking in the days to come for more observations. Brian was able to get one documentary of 10 Sandhill Cranes in flight.

**Leon Gagnon shares some photos he took at Wilson Point on Miscou Island this summer. He located a nest of Olive-sided Flycatchers and got a photo of an adult. He had Semipalmated Plovers visit the yard of his summer home and got a photo of an immature Great Blue Heron nicely posing.

There was a burn over at Wilson point in 2017. Leon sends a photo of the rich regeneration taking place in 2021.

**On Friday, going for her daily walk, Yolande LeBlanc parked behind the Memramcook arena. When she left the car, she could hear them; there were ‘many’ European Starlings in the trees in front of the Memramcook Institute and Monument Lefbevre. Yolande walked toward the sound and they took flight. There were approximately 3000 birds. They flew around and around, then landed again in some other trees. Like many of us, Yolande is not a starling fan but that was a mesmerizing murmuration! She had seen them before in the area like that.

On Saturday, there were lots around, but not in big groups. She hopes they don't find her yard!

**On Friday Yvette Richard had 7 Eastern Bluebirds show up again in her Cocagne yard checking out real estate potential for next season. They stayed for a couple of hours then gone.

This scenario is becoming commonplace as the Eastern Bluebird population swells and can continue right into November.

**Bob Blake comments the Mountain Ash trees are full of American Robins now around his Second North River home eating the very heavy crop of berries. The branches are hanging low with berries this year as many are noting.

I was in the Cape Enrage area on Saturday and hundreds of American Robins were flying between the Mountain Ash trees feeding heavily. With such a bumper crop, many robins will have little reason to leave us this winter.

**Aldo Dorio continues to photograph the late-season shorebirds at Hay Island. On Saturday, he took note of Ruddy Turnstones and Dunlin.

**Lori Bateman cleaned the 5 Nature Moncton bird boxes she has. Three were used by Tree Swallows and one she thinks was used by Eastern bluebirds, and one had a partial nest that had been abandoned.

There was no sign of dead birds in any; the nest location is 5 km from Shediac Bay as the gull flies, in open hay field.

She is grateful to have the boxes, thanking Fred Richards carpenter shop for making them available to Nature Moncton to make them available to Nature Moncton members free of charge.

**While fishing near Cape enrage on Saturday, I was surprised a Spiny Dogfish (shark) took my bait to give a nice chance to observe this shark up close. They are very common in the Bay of Fundy but this is the first chance I have had for a close observation. They grow to a maximum of approximately 20 pounds but this specimen was under 5 pounds. They get the name due to 2 very sharp spines, one anterior to each dorsal fin at the point of fin origin they use to deter predators. They have a line of white spots along the back as the photo shows. They pose no danger to humans feeding on a wide array of sea creatures. Their emerald for green eye is striking.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

SANDHILL CRANES. OCT 23, 2021. BRIAN COYLE

OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER. AUG 25, 2021. LEON GAGNON

EASTERN BLUEBIRD (MALE). OCT 22, 2021. YVETTE RICHARD

RUDDY TURNSTONE. OCT 23, 2021. ALDO DORIO

RUDDY TURNSTONES. OCT 23, 2021. ALDO DORIO

DUNLIN. OCT 23, 2021. ALDO DORIO

SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS. SEPT 6, 2021. LEON GAGNON

GREAT BLUE HERON (IMMATURE). AUG 6, 2021. LEON GAGNON

SPINY DOGFISH (SHARK). OCT 23, 2021. NELSON POIRIER

BURN OVER. 2017. LEON GAGNON

BURN OVER REGENERATION. AUG 12, 2021. LEON GAGNON

Saturday, 23 October 2021

Oct 23 2021

NATURE MONCTON NATURE INFORMATION LINE, Oct. 23, 2021 (Saturday)

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.

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

Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

**John Massey put out some bass carcasses for his ravens and every noisy crow in Moncton and was pleasantly surprised to see a Turkey Vulture feasting in his yard. The carcasses were only put out after dark Friday night under some trees so there was no smell. He found it amazing how the vulture found them.

John lives in a subdivision in Dieppe. There is a tree area behind him but lots of nearby houses.

John also sends a photo of one of his Common Ravens with a large white patch in the chest area. This may have resulted from an injury or a true partial albino.

**We photographed a developing seed capsule of a Magnolia Tree in the yard of Fred Dube on October 5, which is reattached. Fred got another photo of it on October 22 showing how it has now opened and displaying seeds.

**I was a bit surprised to see a Double-crested Cormorant land on the small pond across from the Tankville School on Saturday and quickly disappear into the pond side bushes. On checking, it was drying its wings well hidden in the very public area.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

TURKEY VULTURE. OCT 22, 2021. JOHN MASSEY

RAVEN. OCT 22, 2021. JOHN MASSEY

DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT. OCT 22, 2021. NELSON POIRIER

MAGNOLIA TREE SEED CAPSULE. OCT 5, 2021. NELSON POIRIER

MAGNOLIA SEED CLUSTER RIPENING. OCT 22, 2021. FRED DUBE

Friday, 22 October 2021

Oct 22 2021

NATURE MONCTON NATURE INFORMATION LINE, Oct. 22, 2021 (Friday)

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.

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

Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

**Possibly many of us have been noting the small white morsels of white fluff floating around recently resembling small snowflakes. This is the winged adult stage of the Woolly Alder Aphid. Brian Stone took some very enlarged photos to show it as a blue insect with attached waxy hair like fluff. They were in the larval stage as white woolly masses on Alder branches earlier in the season and are now in the adult stage moving to their winter host tree which is Silver Maple and others.

Brian also made a brief visit to Centennial Park to notice Orange Jelly Fungus in masses on a conifer stump. The similar more yellow Witches Butter Fungus is found on hardwood trees.

He also got an excellent photo of a Western Conifer Seed Bug in the park. These introduced insects from the west of us will be seen occasionally around homes looking for sheltered wintering spots this time of year. They are harmless to humans. The swellings on the tibia is a good ID clue (arrowed).

**Ewan Dobson in Millville, NB has been able to attract 25 species of birds to his hand to feed. Ewan has made a four-minute video of the species he has attracted and got on video. Check out Ewan’s efforts at the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqEOT5Jcevk

**The Chipping Sparrow is a sparrow that leaves us for the winter with the odd one staying at a feeding station for the winter. I have several Chipping Sparrows coming to the feeder area at the moment in winter non-breeding plumage that we can be on the lookout for in the winter should the odd one appear. Note the deep rusty crown has disappeared and the bill has become pale from black with only the upper mandible being dark grey. The one thing that stays constant as a constant ID clue for the Chipping Sparrow is the dark eyeline extends right to bill (arrowed) which in some look-alike winter sparrows does not go past the eye.

I have also noticed that the several Red-winged Blackbirds coming as patrons are all female. Am attaching a photo of one. They seem to really favour white proso millet as their food choice.

**It’s Friday and time to review what to expect in next week’s night sky courtesy of sky guru Curt Nason.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2021 October 23 – October 30
Mid-autumn is a time for late-evening whale watching while the large constellation of Cetus the Whale is approaching the southern sky. Many of its stars are not particularly bright so it can be elusive, but you can piece it together in a fairly dark sky. The eastern side of the square of Pegasus is a handy arrow that points down toward Diphda, the brightest star in Cetus. Also called Deneb Kaitos, “the tail of the whale,” it anchors a pentagram of stars forming the rear half of Cetus below dim Pisces. A circlet of stars to the upper left, west of Taurus, is the whale’s head.

A famous star in Cetus is Mira, perhaps the first star to be recognized as a variable or one that changes its brightness regularly. The name Mira translates as “wonderful.” It is a red giant star that expands and contracts, while brightening as it expands. At minimum brightness it cannot be seen with binoculars but every 11 months it brightens to easy naked eye visibility, which was reached in August. Midway on the western side of the circlet of the whale’s head is a star which anchors an asterism that resembles a question mark. Don’t ask why, just try it with binoculars. A scope or binoculars could reveal the galaxy M77 approximately midway between Mira and Menkar, the star at the bottom of the circlet.

In mythology Cetus represents the sea monster created by Poseidon to ravage the coastal area of Ethiopia as punishment for Queen Cassiopeia’s bragging. Her daughter Andromeda was chained to a rock at the seashore as a sacrifice to make the monster go away. Perseus was homeward bound on the back of Pegasus after slaying the Gorgon Medusa when he chanced upon Andromeda’s plight. He rescued the princess by using Medusa’s head to turn the monster to stone, winning the day and the hand of Andromeda.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:47 am and sunset will occur at 6:18 pm, giving 10 hours, 31 minutes of daylight (7:51 am and 6:25 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:57 am and set at 6:07 pm, giving 10 hours, 10 minutes of daylight (8:00 am and 6:14 pm in Saint John).

The Moon is at third quarter on Thursday, rising at midnight and setting at 3:10 pm. Mercury reaches its greatest elongation from the morning Sun on Monday, while Venus reaches greatest elongation from the setting Sun on Friday. Saturn and Jupiter are well placed for observing throughout the early evening. Jupiter’s moons put on a show for telescope users Friday evening, with Callisto entering the planet’s shadow at 6:27 and reappearing from the shadow at 10:47. Meanwhile, Io and its shadow can be seen crossing Jupiter, with the moon exiting at 7:05 and the shadow at 8:22. Finally, Ganymede emerges from Jupiter’s shadow at 9:31.

On Sunday evening at 8 pm, tune in to the 100th episode of the Sunday Night Astronomy Show via the Facebook page or YouTube channel of Astronomy by the Bay.

Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

CHIPPING SPARROW (NON-BREEDING P;UMAGE). OCT 21, 2021. NELSON POIRIER

RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD (FEMALE). OCT 21, 2021. NELSON POIRIER

WESTERN CONIFER SEED BUG. OCT. 21, 2021

WOOLLY ALDER APHID. OCT. 21, 2021. BRIAN STONE

ORANGE JELLY FUNGUS. OCT. 21, 2021. BRIAN STONE

Cetus_2021

Thursday, 21 October 2021

Oct 21 2021

NATURE MONCTON NATURE INFORMATION LINE, Oct. 21, 2021 (Thursday)

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.

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

Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

**Great to hear the cardinal word again. After noting the surprising number that overwintered with us in northern and eastern areas of New Brunswick last season, few seemed to stay and set up housekeeping.

Paula Lansdale had a male Northern Cardinal to her Alma home yard for a day this week. Paula also was pleasantly surprised when she spotted a small flock of birds in her Hydrangea plants to find they were Golden-crowned Kinglets.

**Don Pellerin came across a small, Blue-spotted Salamander out on a mission on Wednesday. This salamander can be quite variable from a lot of pale blue spotting to very little. This little guy seems to have had part of its tail removed, assumedly a bite from a predator. However, it has the ability to regenerate that section so will likely end up being a short cosmetic incident.

**It’s that time of the season we can expect to see lots of Black-bellied Plover in nonbreeding plumage. Aldo Dorio noted 9 at Hay Island on Wednesday, some more of a brownish cast seeming to travel together so interesting to rule out American Golden-Plover with a more distinct pronounced white supercillium, smaller bill than the Black-bellied Plover, and the American Golden-Plover has more of a ‘petite look’. The American Golden-Plover tend to favour open fields more than the Black-bellied Plover.

**It’s that time of year when our gulls molt into their winter plumage and immature gulls will take on their plumage of their 1^st to 4^th winter plumage depending on the number of years that particular species takes to reach mature plumage. Gull watching now can be interesting to see the newest winter plumage as well as northern gulls will be arriving to spend the winter with us.

Depending on winter severity some of the Ring-billed Gull population may migrate southerly but many may not. Brian Stone recently got a photo of an adult winter Ring-billed Gull aside a 1st winter Ring-billed Gull. The Ring-billed Gull takes 3 years to reach mature plumage.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER. OCT 20, 2021. ALDO DORIO

RING-BILLED GULLS (ADULT AND 1ST WINTER PLUMAGE) AND RING-NECKED DUCK. OCT. 18, 2021. BRIAN STONE

BLUE-SPOTTED SALAMANDER. OCT 20, 2021. DONALD PELLERIN

Wednesday, 20 October 2021

Oct 20 2021

NATURE MONCTON NATURE INFORMATION LINE, Oct. 20, 2021 (Wednesday)

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.

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

Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

**A big Thank you to Danielle Pinder with the Marine Animal Response Society (MARS) to Zoom in to give a presentation to Nature Moncton on Tuesday evening. Danielle gave a look into a world many of us never get to experience in responding to marine mammal emergency response such as whales, dolphins, sharks as well as some of our sea turtles. Managing these animals, some very large, requires very trained leadership, equipment, and expertise. A very enlightening presentation!

**Late Tuesday morning, Peter Gadd dropped in to Miramichi Marsh to see what birds may still be around. Several duck species, both divers and dabblers were present. One young Pied-billed Grebe was still waiting to be mature enough to get on its way was there. There were very many American Robins as there have been in many places lately, they were very active feeding of course, Mountain Ash berries and various other things. As Peter approached his car, there was a group of robins foraging in short grass and, all of a sudden, some commotion and they all fled, except for one. A Merlin was on top of it, wings out spread mantling its prey. After perhaps a minute it left with its prey firmly in its grasp! Peter got photos of the capture that are attached. The robin is not visible, but that is what it had to be as there were many in that vicinity and when the Merlin took off it had quite a large package underneath it.

Peter suspects the Merlin to be an adult male.

**John Massey had an Autumn Meadowhawk Dragonfly pose on his car for portrait nicely showing its brown legs and orange- reddish pterostigma on the leading forward edge of the wings.

**Mid to late October is when the Shaggy Mane Mushroom favours to fruit. Bev Schneider photographed some coming up in the Douglas area. They are a choice edible but important to gather them fresh before they start liquefying to an inky liquid. Bev shows a cut cross-section of one that has just passed its prime.

This mushroom species is easy to recognize with no real look-alikes I am aware of. No spore print is necessary.

**Louis-Emile Cormier and Richard Perron are doing an incredible job of erecting and maintaining tree swallow boxes. All boxes were recently checked and cleaned. Richard maintains 100 nest boxes for Nature Sud-est, 50 in the Shediac coastal area and 50 in Dieppe. They had an 80% success rate.

Louis-Emile had 257 nest boxes erected in the general Cocagne area and Richard helps him check boxes.

This year they had a scenario occur that has made them wonder why. The 50 inland boxes in Dieppe had no dead birds on checking them while the other 50 in the coastal area of Shediac had six boxes with one or more dead birds.

Louis-Emile’s nest boxes in coastal areas had 56 boxes out of 257 with one or more dead birds. They are wondering if the cold spring we had impacted the nest boxes success in the coastal area placed boxes.

Nature Moncton has approximately 400 boxes and each owner checks their own. We would like to get comments if the Nature Moncton landlords that have checked their boxes found dead birds and was the location coastal or inland. I know many of us check and clean boxes in the spring and some place insecticide and diatomaceous earth to control flea infestation which we noted the first year of the Nature Moncton project. For those that clean boxes in spring, we will not know until then if they are more dead birds this year than last.

** Friday morning, October 15 with the beautiful weather of that day, Brian Coyle decided to go kayaking at the Irishtown Reservoir. The water was just like a mirror without a ripple. Brian had a mature Bald Eagle land in a pine tree right beside him as he slowly paddled along, and it began to preen itself. In addition, the fall colours were amazing.

Brian shares some great photos of his outing on this nearby lake gem. Kayaking is one of the ways to enjoy wildlife with them often ignoring human presence.

**On Monday Brian Stone drove to the Memramcook lagoon with hopes of getting a good photo of the young HORNED GREBE that has been hanging out there recently. He waited an hour and a half for a close encounter but the grebe was resting and swimming a bit and did not come close to the blind, preferring to remain along the left side of the lagoon well out of range in the company of some RING-NECKED DUCKS and GULLS.

Frustrated at the lack of success Brian headed over to the Sackville St. James St. ponds and tried his luck there. He managed some nice, close photos of some of the HUDSONIAN GODWITS (note the pliable bill in some of Brian's photos), the LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS, a PECTORAL SANDPIPER, a well camouflaged WILSON'S SNIPE hiding in tall grass, and a couple of the many GREATER YELLOWLEGS that were present.

In between Memramcook and Sackville Brian visited the lagoon at Dorchester to find the pipes there still well populated with BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS and a good variety of ducks and lots of CANADA GEESE. The geese and ducks flew up and landed back several times to make for some flight photos. Another good flight photo materialized when a small flock of AMERICAN WIGEONS flew in to join the life at the lagoon. In the grass beside the lagoon several COMMON EASTERN BUMBLEBEES were still out and enjoying the flowers.

On the way home Brian decided to give the Horned Grebe at Memramcook one more chance to do the right thing and he went back to the blind there and bravely waited another hour for a close up. Near the end of that hour the grebe decided to begin seriously feeding and as it did it circled the entire edge of the lagoon multiple times and made two close passes to the blind whereupon Brian finally got the close ups he was hoping for. Some birds just like to make you wait!

**On Tuesday Brian Stone drove to Hillsborough to walk the wetlands trail in the suddenly cool weather. The fall colours were still abundant but a carpeting of leaves on the trail foretold the fate of the rest still hanging on to their branches. Brian's first treat was an immature NORTHERN SHRIKE perched on the top of a dead tree, found by following its calls. Further along the trail, at the main ponds, a friendly group of one male and three female HOODED MERGANSERS were kind enough to allow some photography. An immature GREAT BLUE HERON was not so inclined and fled the scene only to be photographed in flight as it made its departure. Lots of MOUNTAIN ASH BERRIES and ROSE HIPS ( note the oblong hips of the Dog Rose-Rosa canina) lined the trail and even the RASPBERRIES were still ripening in an attempt to hold on to the summer feeling. A high-flying RED-TAILED HAWK was just out of reach of the camera but nice to see anyway.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

MERLIN CAPTURING ROBIN. OCT 19, 2021. PETER GADD

KAYAKING IRISHTOWN NATURE PARK. OCT 15, 2021. BRIAN COYLE

BALD EAGLE. OCT 15, 2021. BRIAN COYLE

HORNED GREBE. OCT. 18, 2021. BRIAN STONE

HOODED MERGANSER (MALE). OCT. 19, 2021. BRIAN STONE

HOODED MERGANSERS (MALE AND FEMALE). OCT. 19, 2021. BRIAN STONE

HUDSONIAN GODWIT. OCT. 18, 2021. BRIAN STONE

HUDSONIAN GODWITS. OCT. 18, 2021. BRIAN STONE

HUDSONIAN GODWIT. OCT. 18, 2021. BRIAN STONE

HUDSONIAN GODWIT AND GREATER YELLOWLEGS. OCT. 18, 2021.. BRIAN STONE

LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER. OCT. 18, 2021.. BRIAN STONE

PECTORAL SANDPIPER AND HUDSONIAN GODWIT. OCT. 18, 2021. BRIAN STONE

NORTHERN SHRIKE (IMMATURE). OCT. 19, 2021. BRIAN STONE

WILSON'S SNIPE. OCT. 18, 2021.. BRIAN STONE

GREAT BLUE HERON. OCT. 19, 2021.. BRIAN STONE

BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS (MOSTLY). OCT. 18, 2021. BRIAN STONE

CANADA GEESE AND DUCKS. OCT. 18, 2021. BRIAN STONE

CANADA GEESE. OCT. 18, 2021. BRIAN STONE

AMERICAN WIGEONS. OCT. 18, 2021. BRIAN STONE

CANADA GEESE. OCT. 18, 2021. BRIAN STONE

AUTUMN MEADOWHAWK DRAGONFLY. OCT 19, 2021. JOHN MASSEY

COMMON EASTERN BUMBLEBEE. OCT. 18, 2021. BRIAN STONE.

HIGHBUSH CRANBERRY. OCT. 19, 2021. BRIAN STONE

MOUNTAIN ASH BERRIES. OCT. 19, 2021. BRIAN STONE

RASPBERRIES. OCT. 19, 2021. BRIAN STONE

ROSE HIPS (DOG ROSE). OCT. 19, 2021.. BRIAN STONE

SHAGGY MANE MUSHROOM. OCT 19, 2021. BEV SCHNEIDER

SHAGGY MANE MUSHROOM (CROSS SECTION GOING PAST PRIME). OCT 19, 2021. BEV SCHNEIDER

WHITE SWEET CLOVER. OCT. 19, 2021. BRIAN STONE

FALL COLOURS. OCT. 19, 2021. BRIAN STONE