Nature Moncton Nature News: Sept 28 2019

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, 28 September 2019 (Saturday)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Transcript by: Catherine Clements

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

**Jane LeBlanc shares an updated photo of the WITCH-HAZEL [Café du diable] bush in her St. Martins yard. This very late-flowering plant could continue flowering until the end of October or even later. It must have awesome botanical antifreeze! Also showing in the photo are two nuts from this year developing, and another which is a remnant from last year. Jane also got a photo of a very brightly-coloured SAVANNAH SPARROW [Bruant des prés] on the St. Martins Marsh on Friday morning. It assumedly is an adult male, to be so brightly plumaged but on consultation with Gilles Belliveau, he commented how variable this species can be.

**Kathleen LeBlanc comments her Bouctouche feeders have been very quiet suddenly, with only a few BLUE JAYS [Geai bleu] patronizing. This is a very common scenario in late September and October. It is the time of the year when wild food is most abundant, and many of our feeder birds are choosing that. It is also an interim when some of our bird community is starting to move south, and our northern visitors have not yet started to arrive. We can rest assured all that will change as the temperature cools, and, perish the thought, some wild food will get covered by something that starts with “s” and is white!

**The DESTROYING ANGEL [Amanite bisporigère] is one of our few deadly Mushrooms [Champignons]. It could appear on lawns, but would not commonly do so. A mushroom in the genus Lepiota [genre Lepiota], the Common Lepiota is a non-toxic lookalike to the Destroying Angel, but very commonly appears on lawns and landscaped areas. The partial veil in the Destroying Angel hangs down like an apron, while the partial veil tends to come off more at an angle, as a photo Brian Stone got of a Common Lepiota shows. The Destroying Angel sits in a white sac that would not be noticed if pulled out. The Common Lepiota does not have that sac; however, would have free gills that ring around the stalk base of the gills, as Brian’s photo shows clearly. Although a good edible, we never use the Common Lepiota as an edible, due to its similarities to the Destroying Angel. Brian also got a photo of a Common Lepiota just emerging, which is not easy to identify from a Destroying Angel.

**Many seem to show interest in learning to identify the common edible mushroom HONEY MUSHROOM [Armillaire couleur de miel]. I attached photos yesterday of Honey Mushrooms just emerging, showing the partial veil still attached. That same group of mushrooms on Friday showed many with the partial veil detached and remnants remaining on the stalk. The Honey Mushroom has a tendency for that partial veil remnant or parts of it to stick upwards like an Elizabethan collar, to be another identification clue feature. Also remember the pale yellow spore print. I’m attaching both to compare.

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton