Nature Moncton Nature News: Sept 16 2015

**A special thank you to Courtney Smith for giving a presentation to Nature Moncton on the WOOD TURTLE in the Petitcodiac River watershed area after a project studying them and local sites for the past two years and one more year to go. Courtney enlightened the group on the general biology of the threatened species, the challenges they face and how we can help. Courtney would appreciate sightings and reports of wood turtles in the area being sent to the Petitcodiac Watershed Alliance office. The PWA is a member of Nature Moncton and visa versa and receives the daily Nature Moncton information line.

A thank you also to Susan Atkinson for initiating short hour long Mapleton Park visits before the monthly meeting with eight folk enjoying it Tuesday night.

**In a flurry of yesterday's action Carmella Melanson's excellent photo of the DICKCISSEL on Grand Manan on Sunday was omitted and is attached today. It beautifully shows the field marks of the very large thick bill, yellowish eye line and the chestnut wing coverts. This species is a irregular here as a visitor more often this time of year.

**Susan Richards spotted a brightly coloured caterpillar in her Taylor Village dill patch on Tuesday. Looking at the photo on the computer she realized there were three or four more in the background. These are the caterpillars of the BLACK SWALLOWTAIL BUTTERFLY. These would be from a second brood of the summer and when these go into their chrysalis, they will remain that way until next spring.

**Judy Marsh leaves a comment regarding Hay Island Nature Park near Neguac. Judy and Sterling visited this park on Labor Day weekend after seeing all the photos in that area being submitted by Aldo Dorio and very much enjoyed visiting this special area of woodland marsh, seashore and boardwalks. Judy suggests a Nature Moncton field trip to the site.

**Stu Tingley leaves an interesting comment on the Katydid photo of the ROESEL’S KATYDID submitted yesterday that many may not have seen or heard of. Stu points out it seems the first record of this Katydid in NB was in 2006 and has recently become quite common, especially in south-eastern NB.

Ron Arsenault comments Don McAlpine at the NB museum reported it in the NB scientific literature in 2009.

**Georges Brun got more pictures of the GREAT EGRET that is still present in the marsh pond at the end of Louis street in Dieppe on Tuesday. It has prey in its beak and Georges comments that it seemed a very efficient fisher compared to the nearby GREAT BLUE HERON.

**We have several CRANEFLY species in NB that can vary somewhat in wing pattern. Aldo Dorio photographed one of these on September 14th.

**Elaine Gallant spoke with some long time residents of the Robichaud area. They reported the TERN colony several of us discovered for the first time this spring on an island between Robichaud and Chemin de la Breche has been there for a long time but a storm a few years ago in summer, assumably hurricane Arthur, did wipe the colony out but they have rebuilt up again that may have led to it being noted more this summer. The Shediac Watershed Association did an official nest count of the site but have not heard results of that survey.

**Brian Stone again got several excellent action shots of his resident black and yellow argiope spider as it was having lunch of a grasshopper.

Also the mislabeling of a LEAF HOPPER Brian submitted yesterday is corrected on the blog spot as well as the inference to the BLACK-HORNED TREE CRICKET as a KATYDID.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton