Nature Moncton Nature News: 2017-08-06

Saturday, 12 August 2017

August 12 2017

NATURE MONCTON’S INFORMATION LINE – 12 August 2017 (Saturday)

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Please advise the Editor if any errors are noted in wording or photo labelling.

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Transcript by: Catherine Clements

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

**The hot shorebird report today comes from the near-at-hand Riverview Marsh. Roger Leblanc went to check out the area on Friday and was very surprised and pleased at what he found. As Georges Brun had pointed out earlier, the character of the marsh area has changed, to now have left a drier wet area and a pond impoundment to prvide ideal shorebird habitat. On Saturday, Roger identified 8 different shorebird species. The most surprising was 3 RED-NECKED PHALAROPES [Phalarope à bec étroit] in juvenile plumage in the impoundment area, and at very close range of approximately 5 metres distance at one point, to create excellent photo opportunities. He says many YELLOWLEGS [Chevalier] were seen, with approximately 300 LESSER YELLOWLEGS [Petit Chevalier] and approximately 150 GREATER YELLOWLEGS [Grand Chevalier], some WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS [Bécasseau à croupion blanc], and SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS [Bécasseau semipalmé]. Some species Roger mentioned are missed, due to cell phone reception in the wind. The Riverview Marsh is obviously an excellent nearby shorebird site to visit, with excellent variety, and with shorebird movement just really getting underway, surprises could arrive there any time.

**Jack Perry sends a photo of a plant that often tends to give folks problems in identifying. It is HIMALAYAN BALSAM [Balsamine de l'Himalaya], that can end up growing chest height, with showy blooms. This is a non-native plant that originally appeared in the Saint John area, thought to be introduced from European ships’ ballast. It now pops up in other areas of New Brunswick, sometimes just a few plants, as it has done at Bell Marsh in Moncton.

Another plant we don’t tend to see much is the CANADA ANEMONE [Anémone du Canada]. This plant was photographed blooming during the New Brunswick Botany Club excursion on the shoreline of the Aroostook River on August 5th.

**The Nature Moncton Activities Committee has met to start planning for the upcoming season, and the slate is going to be lively. The first field trip will be a short shorebird workshop followed by a visit to a local hot spot, led by Roger LeBlanc on August 26th. The write-up is being prepared, with meeting place for a short workshop to be confirmed, as well as location to be visited. Another field trip to Taylor Road near Salisbury to be led by Dave Miller who knows that area so well. This is set for Monday morning August 28 meeting Dave’s white Jeep at the Irving Big Stop on the TCH at Salisbury at 7:00 a.m. This one had to go on a weekday as running out of weekends.

Great to get started again! The first Nature Moncton meeting on September 19th welcomes BLACK BEAR [Ours noir] biologist Kevin Craig, and more for the season will be on the Nature Moncton website and on the Information Line, as plans firm up.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

NATURE MONCTON’S INFORMATION LINE – 12 August 2017 (Saturday)

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

To respond by email, please address your message to the Information Line Editor, nelson@nb.sympatico.ca.

Please advise the Editor 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 nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Transcript by: Catherine Clements

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

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

CANADA ANEMONE (Anemone canadensis). AUG 5, 2017.NELSON POIRIER

HIMALAYAN BALSAM.AUG 11, 2017.JACK PERRY

Friday, 11 August 2017

August 11 2017

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, August 11, 2017 (Friday)

Please advise editor at nelson@nb.sympatico.ca if any errors are noted in wording or photo labeling.

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

Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Transcript by: Louise Nichols nicholsl@eastlink.ca

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

To respond by e-mail, please address your message to the information line editor nelson@nb.sympatico.ca.

** The OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER [Moucherolle à côtés olive] is a flycatcher we seem to be seeing less and less of. Aldo Dorio got a photo of one on Hay Island on Thursday. The signature white tufts on the side of the rump do not show; however, the “unbuttoned vest” on the front view does show.

** Brian Stone had a visit from one of the large Sawyer Beetles to his Moncton yard on Friday: the NORTHEASTERN PINE SAWYER. There are several Sawyer Beetle species in New Brunswick. Some are attracted to lights at night. These are quite large beetles with long antennae.

Many of you have met Pat’s canary Cheerio. He "stuck his bill up"

at some of the pet store treats so hung some of the rejects up on the bird feeder enclosure. The Song Sparrows loved them. Cheerio is not amused!

** This week’s Sky-at-a-Glance is added to this edition, courtesy of Curt Nason, and it talks about this weekend as a potentially great time to see meteors, commonly known as shooting stars or falling stars.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, August 12 – August 19

This weekend is the the annual Perseid meteor shower, which peaks on Saturday afternoon but it could delight patient stargazers throughout the weekend nights. You can see a few meteors per hour any night in a clear, dark sky, but the number increases when Earth passes through a trail of pebbles and dust left by a comet that makes frequent orbits around the Sun. The pebbles left by comet Swift-Tuttle in its 133-year orbit are quite large at a few centimetres, and they enter our atmosphere at a high relative velocity of 60 km/s (Earth travels at 30 km/s). Therefore, they can be very bright.

Meteors, also called shooting stars or falling stars, are the streaks of light created when particles enter the atmosphere at an altitude of about 100 kilometres. Those particles from comets disintegrate before they reach an altitude of 50 kilometres. Many meteors are faint and easily made invisible by moonlight and light pollution. This weekend the Moon is near third quarter and therefore it rises late in the evening, decreasing the number of visible meteors. But don’t fret; if the sky is clear there should be enough brighter ones to keep you entertained for a while. They will seem to be coming from a point, called the radiant, between the constellations Perseus and Cassiopeia. You should see more of them well after midnight when the radiant is high, but the evening Perseids tend to be long and bright.

Although a dark sky is preferred for watching meteors, many can still be enjoyed from an urban or suburban area. Get comfortable in a chair, have extra clothes or blankets if you plan to stay long as it can get very chilly, and select a patch of sky that is free of clouds and light. It is better to keep Perseus to your side rather than look in that direction because the meteors will look more spectacular, covering a longer distance. I recommend looking roughly northward so that the Moon is at your back. Be very happy if you see about 20 per hour on the peak night, or half that a day before or after. Anything more is a bonus.

This Week in the Solar System

Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:15 am and sunset will occur at 8:32 pm, giving 14 hours, 17 minutes of daylight (6:22 am and 8:35 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:23 am and set at 8:20 pm, giving 13 hours, 57 minutes of daylight (6:30 am and 8:24 pm in Saint John).

The Moon is at third quarter on Monday, rising before midnight Sunday and setting around 1:40 pm Monday. It passes near Aldebaran on Wednesday morning and by Venus on August 19. Jupiter is sinking lower in the west at dusk, setting at 10:30 pm midweek and approaching Spica nightly. Saturn, in the southern sky in evening twilight, is the main telescopic attraction for the month. Venus is the bright Morning Star, rising around 3:15 am among the stars of Gemini. The Perseid meteor shower peaks on the afternoon of August 12 so look for increased meteor activity on all three nights and mornings this weekend. Ignore any Internet stories of this being the most spectacular meteor shower in recorded history

The Mount Carleton Star Party runs from August 11 - 13; a great place to spend the weekend taking nature hikes and catching shooting stars.

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

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton

NORTHEASTERN PINE SAWYER BEETLE. AUG. 10, 2017. BRIAN STONE

OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER.AUG 10, 2017.ALDO DORIO

Perseids

SONG SPARROW.AUG 11, 2017.NELSON POIRIER

Thursday, 10 August 2017

August 10 2017

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, August 10, 2017 ( Thursday )

To respond by e-mail, please address your message to the information line editor, nelson@nb.sympatico.ca . Please advise if any errors are noted in wording or photo labeling.

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

Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Transcript by: Brian Stone bjpstone@gmail.com

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

** Georges Brun noticed two MONARCH [Monarque] butterflies working the Milkweed patch next to the skateboard park by the riverfront trail in Moncton on Wednesday. The Milkweed patches in that area that are protected by the City of Moncton are getting very significant usage by the Monarch butterflies.

** Aldo Dorio is noticing lots of fledged, young of the year birds at Hay Island with all of its varied habitats. Note the just opening feathers in one of his photos.

** I am attaching photos of the CANADA DARNER dragonfly and the VARIABLE DARNER dragonfly. The markings on the thorax often help a lot to identify the large Darners cruising about at the moment. The Variable Darner is well named as the thoracic stripes are usually divided with blue above and greenish below as the photograph shows. Some individuals may have narrow and straight thoracic stripes to lead to the variability. The thoracic stripes on the Canada Darner are more reliable, with the front stripe with the sharp hook at the top of the front one and green grading to blue near the top. The specimen has a yellow/brown body as it is a female. These two specimens were flying in the Canada Nature Conservancy area near Escuminac.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton

CANADA DARNER DRAGONFLY (FEMALE).AUG 8, 2017.NELSON POIRIER.

CANADA DARNER DRAGONFLY (FEMALE).AUG 8, 2017.NELSON POIRIER

WARBLER FLEDGLING. AUG 9, 2017.ALDO DORIO

Wednesday, 9 August 2017

August 9 2017

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, August 09, 2017 (Wednesday)

Please advise editor at nelson@nb.sympatico.ca if any errors are noted in wording or photo labeling.

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

Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelson@nb.sympatico.ca
Transcript by: Catherine Johnson johnson2@xplornet.com
Info Line # 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)
To respond by e-mail, please address your message to the information line editor nelson@nb.sympatico.ca.

**Louise Nichols visited the Highland Park lagoons in Salisbury on Tuesday and was able to have an audience with the COMMON GALLINULE family that Dave Miller and Ron Steeves had reported earlier. One photo shows the lobed feet characteristic of the COOT family. Louise saw 2 adults and 5 chicks.

**Carmella Melanson shares more photos of a adult CHIPPING SPARROW with its fledglings. The fledglings would be hard to recognize not being with the adult.

Carmella also shares a nice photo of the BURROWING OWL on Grand Manan that she took on August 03.

**Laurie Betts in Riverview had been noticing an unfamiliar CRICKET in his basement recently. It turns out it is the CAMEL CRICKET. Some photos are attached with one leg missing which happens to make a nice photo of the body.

**Leon Gagnon leaves some observations from the Wilson's Point area of Miscou Island. He saw seven WHIMBREL on Tuesday morning and as well a PEREGRINE FALCON flew over. Leon continues to see a BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO periodically in the area of his Wilson's Point summer place.

**Aldo Dorio was fortunate enough to get a photo of the elusive WILSON'S SNIPE foraging on the coastline at Hay Island on Tuesday. It's not often we see this common bird so nicely in the open.

**Brian Stone photographed a doe white-tailed deer with her twin fawns in a field near Johnson's Mills on Monday

**The SPOTTED SANDPIPER young-of-the-year that were hatched here in NB are now appearing on shorelines. A photo of one is attached showing the unspotted breast taken on the beach at Pointe-Sapin on Monday.

**A day flying moth I am noting fluttering about the past few days in the Moncton area that looks like a pale brown butterfly is the male GYPSY MOTH. The female does not fly and lays her egg mass usually on trees often at the base. This moth is problematic if in large numbers as they forage on several deciduous tree species. A photo is attached of the perched moth.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

BURROWING OWL August 3rd 2017 Carmella Melanson

CAMEL CRICKET.AUG 8, 2017.NELSON POIRIER

CHIPPING SPARROW (ADULT AND FLEDGLING) Aug 7 2017 Carmella Melanson

COMMON GALLINULE . LOUISE NICHOLS. AUG. 8, 2017

COMMON GALLINULE CHICKS. LOUISE NICHOLS. AUG. 8, 2017

COMMON GALLINULE FAMILY. LOUISE NICHOLS. AUG. 8, 2017

GYPSY MOTH.AUG 8, 2017.NELSON POIRIER

SPOTTED SANDPIPER (JUVENILE).AUG 7, 2017.NELSON POIRIER

WHITE-TAILED DEER (FAWN). AUG. 07, 2017. BRIAN STONE

WHITE-TAILED DEER. AUG. 07, 2017. BRIAN STONE

WILSON'S SNIPE.AUG 8, 2017.ALDO DORIO

Tuesday, 8 August 2017

August 8 2017

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, August 08, 2017 ( Tuesday )

To respond by e-mail, please address your message to the information line editor, nelson@nb.sympatico.ca . Please advise if any errors are noted in wording or photo labeling.

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

Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Transcript by: Brian Stone bjpstone@gmail.com

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

** Louise Nichols noticed a greenish cloud forming over part of their Sackville yard pond just below the surface, as well as a grayish film on the surface. It seemed different to what she had seen in other years. Alyre Chiasson reviewed the photos and comments that he feels it is an algae, but noted that there are also some protozoans that contain chlorophyll that can not be ruled out. Alyre also comments that this is not uncommon on small ponds at this time of year in warm weather.

** It's August and COMMON NIGHTHAWKS [Engoulevent d'Amérique], although considerably reduced in population numbers, are starting their routes south and are often seen hawking insects during the day. Brian Stone noted six flying low over his Moncton home on Sunday heading in a south/westerly direction, but no photo op was possible.

Brian Stone visited the Johnson's Mills shorebird site on Monday to get many great photos that are attached along with a Dropbox video at the https://www.dropbox.com/s/q92ma2rwmzyupv6/%21%20Video%2003.MOV?dl=0

Dropbox videos seem to have a problem in the first few seconds and then clear up to show well. Brian comments that he heard estimates of up to 90,000 birds present on Monday with the displays becoming very dramatic with the young of the year arriving as well.

** There are two cryptic grasshoppers out at the moment that make short, sudden flights as you walk along dry areas such as roadsides, trails and beach shores. The CAROLINA GRASSHOPPER flares a showy wing with a thick, black basal area and a marginal yellow band. The CRACKLING GRASSHOPPER flares wings with a thick yellow base and a dark to pale marginal band. The Crackling Grasshopper can be very loud giving a crackling sound in flight. The Carolina Grasshoppers that I saw were silent in their short flights.

** A WHITE-TAILED DEER [Cerf de Virginie] passed by on the Little Southwest Miramichi River in front of our camp on Monday morning, swimming along with the greatest of ease. In the distance it looked like a bird sailing down the river with wings up.

Another two plants we had trouble identifying along the Aroostook River on Saturday have been confirmed by Sean Blaney. One is CREEPING BELLFLOWER which Sean reports can be a tricky one to identify. It is a creeping plant with seeds at the top and unopened blooms lower towards the base. Sean comments that it can be invasive but we only did see this one plant. The second plant is MONEYWORT which Sean comments can be invasive on riverfront floodplains but once again we only saw the one plant.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton

CAROLINA GRASSHOPPER (Dissosteira carolina).AUG 5, 2017.NELSON POIRIER

CRACKLING FOREST GRASSHOPPER (Trimerotropis verruculata).AUG 4, 2017.NELSON POIRIER

CREEPING BELLFLOWER (Campanula rapunculoides).AUG 5, 2017.NELSON POIRIER

POND.AUG 17, 2017.LOUISE NICHOLS

SEMIPALMATED PLOVER. AUG. 07, 2017. BRIAN STONE

SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS. AUG. 07, 2017. BRIAN STONE

WHITE-TAILED DEER.AUG 7, 2017.NELSON POIRIER

Monday, 7 August 2017

August 7 2017

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, Aug. 7, 2017 (Monnday)

To respond by e-mail, please address your message to the information line editor nelson@nb.sympatico.ca Please advise if any errors are noted in wording or photo labeling.

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

Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelson@nb.sympatico.ca
Transcript by: David Christie maryspt@mac.com
Info Line # 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)

** Geoff Barnett noted some animal scat and a hole under his yard fence in urban Moncton on Saturday. Photos suggested SKUNK [Mouffette] and the very well-fed appearing evidence strutted across his yard on Sunday.

** Maurice and Louise Richard got a surprise when they arrived at their Acadieville cabin on Saturday. Approximately 30 to 40 DEER FLIES swarmed their vehicle. They thought at first that they had run over a wasp nest, then wondered if the flies were not attracted to the carbon dioxide of the vehicle. They waited several minutes before making a run for the cabin. Lots of more welcome creatures greeted them, including BELTED KINGFISHERS [Martin-pêcheur ], CICADAS, RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRDS [Colibri à gorge rubis] and a SNOWSHOE HARE [Lièvre d'Amérique].

** Brian Coyle has been training his trail camera on an area near his Upper Mountain Road home. He shares some Dropbox videos of a WHITE-TAILED DEER [Cerf de Virginie] in very nice condition and another of a COYOTE [Coyote]. See them at the attached links: https://www.dropbox.com/s/y4x1v08r7vyqamj/STC_0007%20%282%29.AVI?

dl=0 and https://www.dropbox.com/s/10vcoz9twr5hi71/STC_0008.AVI?dl=0

** Jamie and Karen Burris are active foragers of wild edibles. They recently found a sizable crop of BEAKED HAZELNUTS [Noisetier à long bec] and BEECH [Hêtre américain] nuts and luckily got to them before the squirrels did. Jamie says that the hazelnuts are ripe and ready to be dried, but the beech nuts need a few more days to mature. Jamie also got photos of seed clusters on a HOP HORNBEAM tree as well as on a STRIPED MAPLE (aka Moosewood) samara.

** The CHIPPING SPARROWS [Bruant familier] are fledging at our Little Southwest Miramichi camp and being brought to the feeder area. The fledglings would be difficult to recognize if not with their parents. The fledgling plumage makes the young look bigger than the adults.

** I'm attaching a photo of the liverwort with the name COMMON LIVERWORT or UMBRELLA LIVERWORT (Marchantia polymorpha) taken on the Aroostook River shore on Saturday. The arrows point to two different features; the left arrow indicates the palm-tree like structure known as the sporophyte that contains cells for sexual reproduction; the right arrow to the bird-nest like structure that is for asexual reproduction and known as splash cups. The tiny "eggs" are asexual spore producing cells that a new liverwort can regenerate from. It is thought that rain splashing in the cups causes the spores to be ejected. It's a very interesting plant. These details are courtesy of bryophyte guru Bruce Bagnall.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,