Nature Moncton Nature News: Sept 16 2019

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, September 16, 2019 (Monday)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Transcript by: maryspt@mac.com

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

** Jane LeBlanc shares two interesting items. She sends some photos of WITCH-HAZEL [Hamamélis de Virginie] shrub, which she has growing in her St. Martins yard. She purchased them at Corn Hill Nursery, but this is a wild, native shrub. They are unique in that they are one of the last plants to flower, even into October and November, despite frost, with bright yellow blooms and last year’s nuts showing as well. You may be quite surprised if you get the nuts and let them dry. When they release their seed they literally explode and can make quite the alarming sound, if you have forgotten about them!

Jane also has RED OSIER DOGWOOD [Cornouiller stolonifère] in her yard. DOGWOOD SAWFLY [mouche à scie] caterpillars have set up shop, with a tendency to skeletonize some leaves. The adults are actually Hymenoptera and are wasp-like in appearance.

** Theresa McCready sends a photo of an adult APPLE TREE BORER beetle. It is the larvae of this beetle that will feed on a variety of trees, with apple and fruit trees favoured. We don’t tend to see them very often, so I’m assuming that it is not a serious item in New Brunswick.

** Lisa Morris noted a few species of caterpillars wandering her Moncton yard on Sunday. One is the SPOTTED TUSSOCK MOTH [Halisidote maculaée] caterpillar and not fussy about what plant or tree it feeds on. The second is either a YELLOW WOOLLY BEAR [Chenille laineuse jaune] caterpillar. This caterpillar is very similar to the SALT MARSH CATERPILLAR [chenille des marais salins]. I find them very hard to tell apart. Habitat is sometimes helpful but by no means a certainty. Jim Edsall points out the bristles on Saltmarsh Caterpillars are sparser so you tend to see more of the caterpillar body. This tends to be a clue.

** Yes, LYNX [Lynx du Canada] do swim! A big surprise for Bob Hitchcock when boating on a lake in Carleton County when they saw what they first thought must be a beaver. When they trolled their boat over closer, it was obviously no beaver. When they trolled close to the swimming Lynx and got the attached photo, it showed no reaction, so they backed off to give it space, and watched it swim to shore and disappear. In the right place at the right time with a camera to remember the event!

Most hummingbirds have already filed their flight plans south but there are always stragglers. Dale Gaskin had one reappear at his Dawson Settlement feeder after no patrons for some days. It is always a good idea to leave one hummer feeder up until into November, bringing them inside on frosty nights. There is always the possibility of late travelling Ruby-throated Hummingbirds as well as the possibility of unexpected species to visit getting off course in migration to get a bird alert. Check any late visitor closely.

** I have been seeing a seaweed species on the shore near Cape Enrage that I was unfamiliar with seeing at that site. In consulting with Thierry Chopin at UNB-SJ, he confirmed it as IRISH MOSS [Euphorbe cyprès]. Thierry points out that because we can see all these little bumps, we can say they are female gametophytes. The sample on the left is what is called ‘bleached Irish Moss’. The red pigments of red algae are more sensitive when dissolved in water, contrary to the pigments than those of green and brown algae. So, at the end of the summer, with storms and rain tossing them on the beach, they are in poor shape and are ‘bleached’. Note that bleaching is also used for the production of carrageenan, a stabilizer used in many everyday products we all use. It’s also used before clarification in the beer process.

** I repeat the same thing below as yesterday, about the Tuesday meeting of Nature Moncton, at 7 p.m., at the Mapleton Rotary Lodge.

* The September meeting of Nature Moncton will take place this coming Tuesday night, at 7 o’clock, at the Mapleton Rotary Lodge. Our guest speaker will be Cheyenne Currie, from the New Brunswick Nature Trust, who will be informing us of Nature Trust projects that will provide interesting sites for us to visit. These sites are very special as they are protected for special reasons. Cheyenne will also provide information on the interesting forest in New Brunswick, the Acadian forest, and why it is special. A write-up is attached and appears at <www.naturemoncton.com> under upcoming events. A follow-up field trip will be to the Elgin Mapleton forest on September 28^th to highlight many of Cheyenne’s presentation comments which just happens to be the day of a Fall Church Supper there!

Nature Moncton September Meeting

September 17, 2019 at 7:00 at Mapleton Park Rotary Lodge

Our Acadian Forest and NB Nature Trust Effort to Conserve it

Speaker: Cheyenne Currie

Cheyenne Currie, Engagement Coordinator at the Nature Trust of New Brunswick, will be joining Nature Moncton to discuss the importance of private land conservation in our province. Established in 1987, the Nature Trust of New Brunswick is a charitable land conservation organization that is responsible for conserving over 8000 acres in more than 60 beautiful and diverse nature preserves.

Cheyenne’s presentation will focus on the importance of the Acadian forest, why this forest type is endangered and how New Brunswickers can contribute to conservation efforts through the Nature Trust’s Landowner Stewardship program. If you are unable to attend the session and would like to learn more about the Nature Trust and environmental stewardship, feel free to contact Cheyenne at cheyenne.currie@ntnb.org or visit the Nature Trust website (http://www.naturetrust.nb.ca).

** It is also time to renew membership, which is very important for things like lodge rental, website fees information-line hardware, BlogSpot fees, materials for nest-box construction, and many more items.

Members are asked to go to the website at <www.naturemoncton.com> Click on “membership applications” which in turn brings up a window from which a printable membership application can be downloaded. If possible, print that and fill it in to ease the line-up at meeting time. If not able to print it, forms will be available to complete.

Susan Atkinson will also have milkweed seed packages for free distribution to be ready for next spring. Thank you Susan.

** The second half of the meeting will have a mushroom theme. There will be no formal presentation, but participants are invited to start gathering any fresh mushrooms they can find right away and put them in some peat moss or in a paper bag (not plastic). Place them in the fridge, labeled “Do not eat.” If you found them on a tree, record what species of tree it was on, or if under a tree, what species. The weather is right for mushrooms so start gathering today, to get acquainted with some of the many wild mushrooms

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton