Nature Moncton Nature News: 2018-10-28

Saturday, 3 November 2018

Nov 3 2018

Nature Moncton Information Line – 3 November, 2018 (Saturday)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Transcript by: Catherine Clements

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

**Mother Nature has not been gentle on us the past few days, but all is going to change tomorrow, Sunday afternoon, November 4th, for the Nature Moncton visit to the Atlantic Wildlife Institute. The sun is to be shining, and temperature of 8°C. Participants are asked to bring along any left-over Halloween pumpkins as food for the animals there. Atlantic Wildlife Institute manager Pam Novak has suggested folks wear rubber boots and warm clothing, as much of the tour will be outside and may be muddy in some spots after all the rain. The two meeting points at 12:00 noon and 12:30 are outlined in the write-up below. Note that the notice on the website is incorrect, as this event was weather-postponed from last Sunday.

A contact number, if needed to reach the group tomorrow, will be 866-2752.

Tour of the Atlantic Wildlife Institute

Date: November 4

Time of Tour: 1:00 pm

Most of us are aware of the Atlantic Wildlife Institute in Cookville, NB and the work they do rehabilitating injured or sick wildlife. In addition to their rehabilitation work, the Institute contributes to our awareness of environmental problems and issues as well as providing education about wildlife to kids and other members of the community. So if you’d like to see some wildlife up close, and even some – skunks come to mind – that you’d rather not see, come join us for a 1 to 2 hour tour of their facilities beginning at 1:00 pm on Sunday October 28^th. People in the Moncton area can meet for carpooling in the Champlain Place parking lot behind the Burger King at 12:00 noon. For people who wish to join the group in the Sackville area, we will meet there at the Sackville Tourist Information Centre on Mallard Drive (by the Sackville Waterfowl Park) at 12:30.

Please register for the tour with Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

Individual donations to the Atlantic Wildlife Institute would be appreciated. All are welcome to join the group, Nature Moncton member or not.

**Clarence Cormier reports action is getting brisk around his Grande Digue feeder yard. He has had a FOX SPARROW [Bruant fauve] visiting. On Wednesday the first AMERICAN TREE SPARROW [Bruant hudsonien] of the season arrived, and on Friday approximately 100 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS [Jaseur boréal] were in the area in the morning, and then spotted 3 CEDAR WAXWINGS [Jaseur d'Amérique] in the afternoon. Recent reports are suggesting an active bird season ahead.

**Doreen Rossiter had a male RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER arrive to her Alma feeder yard; it was seen daily from October 24th to October 31st. Doreen was surprised to have a female Red-bellied Woodpecker arrive to the feeders on Friday, so there’s obviously a pair of this species in the Alma area. Doreen continues to have both mature and immature WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS [Bruant à couronne blanche] as regular patrons.

**Mac Wilmot got a photo of a late-flying dragonfly on November 1st: an AUTUMN MEADOWHAWK [Sympétrum tardif]. This is often one of the last-flying dragonflies, flying into October and sometimes into November, as this one did. We had a cold snap in October, but obviously some got through that to fly in the warmer days at the moment. Mac’s find is a female. The males would show red on the body. Note also the short yellow to orangish-red pseudostigma (the small oblong spots on the front outer edges of the wing) in this species. Also note the legs appear to be dull brown with no trace of black on them, as other Meadowhawk species have. There could still be a handful of other species that could fly at the moment, but the Autumn Meadowhawk is the only one truly expected to do so. The familiar Bluet Damselfly [Agrion] and the COMMON GREEN DARNER [l'Anax] have been reported in New Brunswick in November in other years. Be on the watch for these late-flying species as a last hurrah of the season, or maybe even other surprise species. Thanks to Gilles Belliveau for supplemental info.

Mac also sends a photo of the not particularly hidden away cache of JACK PINE [Pin gris] cones placed by a RED SQUIRREL [Écureuil roux] for later dining.

**The Redpoll [Sizerin] are moving on down. After sightings recently in Escuminac and Neguac, Daryl Doucette reports he had one lone Redpoll appear at his urban Moncton feeder yard on Thursday. Great to hear this northern visitor that was a rarity last winter may be joining us this winter. They often do not show up at feeders until a bit later, when the Birch [Bouleau] catkin crop dwindles.

**Shawn Cormier took a photo of a GALLIUM SPHINX MOTH caterpillar [chenille du Sphinx du gaillet] he had collected a few weeks ago. It is getting ready to pupate to its winter cocoon to emerge as the very striking adult moth next summer.

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

AUTUMN MEADOWHAWK DRAGONFLY. NOV 1, 2018. MAC WILMOT

GALLIUM SPHINX MOTH AKA BEDSTRAW HAWKMOTH CATERPILLAR. NOV 2, 2018. SHAWN CORMIER

RED SQUIRREL CACHE. NOV 2, 2018. MAC WILMOT

Friday, 2 November 2018

Nov 2 2018

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, November 2, 2018 (Friday)

Please advise editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com 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 nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

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 nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com.

** The BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS [Jaseur boréal] have arrived in Moncton. Gabriel Gallant paid a visit to Bell Marsh on Thursday to find a large group of Bohemian Waxwings and AMERICAN ROBINS [Merle d'Amérique] foraging on berries on either side of the trail. Later in the day, Gabriel comments, he flushed a WILSON'S SNIPE [Bécassine de Wilson] while walking across a field near his Sainte-Marie-de-Kent home.

** Jean Renton is spending these weeks at their Canaan area camp and making lots of nature observations. They have a large BLACK BEAR [Ours noir] that is seen regularly. Jean comments that it seems plump-ready for the winter as she notes its back area jiggling as it runs off. They’re also seeing a doe WHITE-TAILED DEER [Cerf de Virginie] and a fawn regularly, but no bucks as yet. Jean also comments on finding a new mushroom that she has not found before – the CHICKEN MUSHROOM. This mushroom grows in overlapping clusters of shelves on trees, but the top of the mushroom shelves are smooth orangey-red to yellow-orange caps with sulphur-yellow pores underside. It is considered a choice edible when fresh, but Jean comments she has had better.

** Any bird species has potential to become a partial albino. Aldo Dorio got a photo of a partial albino SNOW BUNTING [Bruant des neiges] on Thursday at Hay Island. Unfortunately, it appeared injured with one wing drooping and seemingly not able to fly.

** This week’s Sky-at-a-Glance is included in this edition, courtesy of sky-guru Curt Nason. Note Curt’s comment about reverting to standard time at 2:00 AM this coming Sunday morning, “gaining an extra hour of evening observing”. Only a sky-watcher would express that thought about losing an hour of daylight with the sun setting one hour earlier.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, November 3 – November 10

Deep sky objects are often called faint fuzzies by amateur astronomers, but many are bright enough to be seen with binoculars. Since we are about halfway through autumn let’s start by using the constellation Pegasus as a guidepost. The southwest corner of the square (or diamond) is the base of the winged horse’s neck, and moving away from the square by a couple of stars takes us to the horse’s eye. Extending that line by the distance from the middle of the neck to the eye is where you will find a small blurry patch called M2, a globular cluster that is the second entry in the Messier list of deep sky objects. Angling to the left at the eye we come to a star at the horse’s snout, and extending by nearly half that distance is a larger globular cluster, M15.

The star at the northeast corner of the square is Alpheratz, the brightest star of Andromeda, from which spread two lines of stars. The second star away from Alpheratz along the brighter string is orange Mirach, and moving up two stars from there we encounter the large Andromeda Galaxy, M31. From a dark sky you might notice a fat star and a subtle hazy patch close by, They are M32 and M110, satellite galaxies of M31. In the opposite direction from Mirach and at about the same distance as M31 is fainter M33, the third largest galaxy in our Local Group behind Andromeda and the Milky Way. We see M33 face on, which makes it appear dimmer.

The third brightest star of Andromeda is the double star Almach, situated at the end of the string from Mirach. Look in the area halfway between Almach and Algol, the second brightest star in Perseus, for the open cluster of stars called M34. Next, look above Andromeda for the familiar W-shape of Cassiopeia. A line from the bottom right star of the W to the top right and extended the same distance brings us to open cluster M52. Now go outside and locate them.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 8:02 am and sunset will occur at 6:02 pm, giving 10 hours of daylight (8:06 am and 6:06 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:12 am and set at 4:52 pm, giving 9 hours, 40 minutes of daylight (7:15 am and 5:00 pm in Saint John). We revert to Standard Time at 2 am Sunday, gaining an extra hour of evening observing.

The Moon is new on Wednesday, giving darker skies for teasing deep sky objects out of the background stars. Mercury is at greatest elongation from the Sun on Tuesday, with Jupiter about two binocular widths to its right and a tad higher. You might need binoculars to see them, Mercury especially. Mars is highest in the sky around 7 pm while Saturn sets around 8 pm. Early risers or late-night revellers might notice an occasional shooting star coming from Taurus on Monday as that is the peak of the minor South Taurid meteor shower.

The Saint John Astronomy Club meets in the Rockwood Park Interpretation Centre this Saturday at 7 pm. All are welcome.

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

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton

Autumn DSOs

BOHEMIAN WAXWING. NOV 1, 2018. GABRIEL GALLANT

SNOW BUNTING (PARTIAL ALBINO). NOV 1, 2018. ALDO DORIO

Thursday, 1 November 2018

Nov 1 2018

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, November 1, 2018 (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. 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: bjpstone@gmail.com

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

**Brian Bauld spotted four SANDHILL CRANES [Grue du Canada] on the Tantramar Marsh on Wednesday. He saw them from the road between the large, red Prescott barn and the gray house on the knoll (Folkin’s Dr.), in the vicinity of a flock of Canada Geese.

** Brian Stone visited the Irishtown Nature Park on Wednesday to photograph some great colour shows of Tamarack trees taking on their fall foliage along the lake. A new gazebo has been constructed on the old concrete slab beside the reservoir near the entrance to provide an impressive vista of the lake. He came across a lot of mushrooms that included some of the colourful YELLOW CORAL MUSHROOMS, Earth Tongues, and TURKEY TAIL groupings.

** Aldo Dorio continues to see BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS [Jaseur boréal] at Hay Island. The WINTERBERRY HOLLY crop there is super abundant. Aldo’s photo nicely shows the chestnut colored under tail covert of the Bohemian waxwing. SNOW BUNTINGS [Bruant des neiges] are settling in for their winter stay there and Aldo also photographed a WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER [Bécasseau à croupion blanc]. Note the fairly light supercilium and the longer primary projection than the sometimes similar Dunlin at this time of year. Also the drooped bill and usually shorter tail projection of the Dunlin is not there.

** I visited Hay Island as well on Wednesday seeing a nice variety of late Sandpipers including GREATER YELLOWLEGS [Grand Chevalier], SANDERLINGS [Bécasseau sanderling], DUNLINS [Bécasseau variable], BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS [Pluvier argenté] and SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS [Pluvier semipalmé]. A small group of about half a dozen COMMON REDPOLLS [Sizerin flammé] were foraging on Birch catkins. They were hard to photograph among the branches and being back lit as well. It took close observations to be sure of their identity. One AMERICAN TREE SPARROW [Bruant hudsonien] was seen but was not interested in being photographed.

At the moth light an AUTUMNAL MOTH visited. The Bruce Spanworm Moth flies now as well, but none have appeared to the moth light yet. WINTER CRANE FLIES were noted flying in dancing groups up, down and around in mating flights during the day on Wednesday. This species is just larger than mosquitoes but fly this time of year.

Weather predictions for Sunday, at the moment, look OK for the Nature Moncton visit to the Atlantic Wildlife Institute on Sunday afternoon and it appears that it will be a go. With Halloween now a past event folks planning to head there on Sunday are asked to save/collect any pumpkins to bring as they are used as food for some of the animals there.

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton

AUTUMNAL MOTH. OCT 31, 2018. NELSON POIRIER

BOHEMIAN WAXWING. OCT 31, 2018. ALDO DORIO

COMMON REDPOLL. OCT 31, 2018. NELSON POIRIER

DUNLIN. OCT 31, 2018. NELSON POIRIER

GAZEBO (NEW) IRISHTOWN NATURE PARK.. OCT. 31, 2018. BRIAN STONE

GREATER YELLOWLEGS. OCT 31, 2018. NELSON POIRIER

IREGULAR EARTH TONGUE MUSHROOM. OCT. 31, 2018. BRIAN STONE

SANDERLING. OCT 31, 2018. NELSON POIRIER

SANDHILL CRANES. OCT 31, 2018. BRIAN BAULD

SEMIPALMATED PLOVER. OCT 31, 2018. NELSON POIRIER

SNOW BUNTINGS. OCT 31, 2018. ALDO DORIO

SPINDLE-SHAPED YELLOW CORAL. OCT. 31, 2018.. BRIAN STONE

TAMARACK COLOUR SHOW IRISHTOWN NATURE PARK.. OCT. 31, 2018. BRIAN STONE

TURKEY TAIL MUSHROOMS.. OCT. 31, 2018. BRIAN STONE

WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER. OCT 31, 2018. ALDO DORIO

WINTER CRANEFLY. OCT 31, 2018. NELSON POIRIER

Wednesday, 31 October 2018

Oct 31 2018

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, October 31, 2018 ( Wednesday)

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 labelling.

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

Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Transcript by: Judy Marsh marshj@nbnet.nb.ca

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

** Sparrows seem to be a big highlight in feeder yards the past week as Jamie Burris comments, he and Karen are glad to join the club with SONG SPARROW [Bruant chanteur], WHITE-THROATED SPARROW [Bruant à gorge blanche], CHIPPING SPARROW [Bruant familier] and their first ever FOX SPARROW [Bruant fauve] which put on a great show as it enjoyed a bath in a small puddle in their yard. There are lots of expected regulars present as well and another first for their yard was a HERMIT THRUSH [Grive solitaire]. Karen and Jamie visited the Hillsborough Wetlands last week to get to get a nice image of a TURKEY VULTURE [Urubu à tête rouge] as it floated over as well as a GREAT BLUE HERON [Grand Héron] they accidently spooked rounding a blind corner. A special bird Jamie got a photo of in Salisbury as it was perched overlooking the Peticodiac River last week was an EASTERN WOOD-PEWEE [Pioui de l'Est] This is a hard little bird to identify without hearing the vocalization. Note the faint wing bars, narrow eye ring and short appearing legs. The lower mandible of the adult is yellow but not in this case as the young of the year bird, which this specimen probably, is as the adults of this species are sited as migrating significantly earlier than the juveniles. This is the case for most long distance migrants but some literature points out that the Pewee adults may do so earlier than most. Thanks to Gilles Belliveau for his additional advice on this interesting photo.

**Daryl Doucette, like many are reporting, is experiencing a very lively feeder yard at his urban Moncton home. He got an excellent photo of an adult PURPLE FINCH [Roselin pourpré] male and one in female plumage side by side joined by a male DARK-EYED JUNCO [Junco ardoisé] of which he has 6 in attendance. Of the 4 PURPLE FINCH [Roselin pourpré] he has coming regularly, 3 are in female plumage. SONG SPARROW [Bruant chanteur] are now up to to a half dozen and he is finding that the BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES [Mésange à tête noire] are very numerous this year.

**One of the more special patrons some fortunate bird feeder folk get at their feeders is the FLYING SQUIRREL [Grand polatouche]. Lois Budd has this little nocturnal visitor nightly for a fueling of peanuts and sunflower seeds. One has enjoyed a nesting box for fall and winter feedings since she put it up four years ago. Lois comments the small ears and teddy bear face melt her heart! She also comments that it does not seem to mind a headlamp or flash as it simply continues on feeding possibly used to the house lights anyway. It favours feeding from a modified nesting box. A photo of it is attached.

**The Hen of the Woods mushroom is normally a very late season choice edible even though there have been a few reports of it being found earlier this year. Garbriel Gallant found his first on Tuesday. It was growing under a huge oak tree which it is most often associated with. It weighed 7 pounds and Gabriel got photos of it over and under. It can be expected that there will be more specimens at the same location next year or even more this year if the moderate temperatures continue. This species is very resistent to cold temperatures seeming to favour such conditions.

**I noted a surprising number Fall Cankerworm Moths day flying about in the 6 degree C temperature of Tuesday. These are small to medium sized moths with a photo of one of Tuesdays troop attached. They will lay eggs on host trees and will hatch into larval caterpillars in late May next spring that will be sought after by arriving spring migrants as the leaves unfold.

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton