Nature Moncton Nature News: July 22 2018

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, for July 22, 2018 (Sunday)

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

Transcript by: David Christie maryspt@mac.com

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

** Louise Nichols submitted some Cotton-grass photos in June to give a chance to get better acquainted with these unique sedge kin. Her photos show RUSTY COTTON-GRASS [Linaigrette de Chamisso] and WHITE COTTON-GRASS [Linaigrette à feuilles étroites], which are both early flowering, as per the date Louise took the pictures. Rusty Cotton-grass is less common but is still fairly widespread. The bright orange tufts present early in the spring as single heads and are distinctive. TAWNY COTTON-GRASS [Linaigrette de Virginie] is paler rust-coloured, comes into fruit in August and has multiple flower-heads on each stalk. White Cotton-grass is also early flowering, with multiple spikelets on long stalks and the leaf sheaths become reddish in early to mid-summer. Sean Blaney has provided the information, which I hope that I have interpreted correctly.

** Krista Doyle adds to the blooming flower world at the moment, with a photo of ORANGE DAY-LILY [Lis d’un jour] and BLADDER CAMPION [Pétards]. A plump RASPBERRY [Framboisier] is a tasty reminder of the season of fruit-setting.

** There are lots of recently fledged birds about at the moment, not yet moulted to adult plumage. Brian Stone has some young-of-the year AMERICAN ROBINS [Merle d’Amérique] in his yard, as well as a sparrow, suspected to be a SONG SPARROW [Bruant chanteur] fledgling, that seems to keep them company.

** There are lots of times when we may have to “pick the tulips” not to confuse ravens and crows. Phil Riebel shares a photo of a COMMON RAVEN [Grand Corbeau] from his trail camera, that shows some of the differentiating features a photo can show. It shows the bigger, powerful bill that is curved some, with a tuft of hair atop the bill that AMERICAN CROWS [Corneille d’Amérique] do not have, and the roughly feathered neck area, where the crow is smooth. What we can’t appreciate from a photo, of course, is the size. The crow is large pigeon-sized at approximately 17 inches, whereas the raven is almost Red-tailed Hawk size; it’s about 24 inches. The wings of a raven are more pointed, whereas they tend to be broad and splayed in the crow. The tail in flight is wedge-shaped in a raven, more fan-shaped in a crow. The life-span of a raven can be 30 years, whereas 8 years would be more expected from a crow. As one famous birder by the name of Tingley once commented, “crows caw and ravens croak.”

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton