NATURE
MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, October 10, 2019 (Thursday)
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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Info Line # 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)
Bill and Marguerite Windsor came across
a flock of approximately 20 AMERICAN PIPITS near Riverside-Albert mid-morning on
Wednesday. Marguerite was able to get some photos of this bird from the
underside as some of them perched on wires, a view we just don’t often get to
see. These 6 ½ inch birds nest on Tundra in the far North and we get a chance
to see them here in the fall on their southern migration. They tend to follow
the coast and wrack lines on shores are popular places for them to stop to fuel
up on insects. The white outer tail
feathers are just visible in Marguerite’s photos. This bird also has the
behaviour of almost constant tail flicking
** Aldo Dorio got a nice photo of a
juvenile WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER [Bécasseau à croupion blanc] on Wednesday at
Hay Island. The long primary projections and the superciliary line above the
eye are helpful clues. The white-rumped sandpiper is one of those species,
including the Dunlin that we can often expect to see in the late season,
seemingly in no rush to move south. The white fringe on the feathers is frequently
obvious on sandpipers in juvenile plumage.
** It is that time of year when wasps
can become very active before most will be off to ‘wasp’ heaven to leave some
fertile females to overwinter. Brian Coyle got a very close up photo of a
BALD-FACED HORNET [frelon chauve] on Wednesday. This gets the hornet handle but
is actually a wasp. This is the one that builds the large, pendulous,
paper-like, rounded nests that we tend to note this time of year as they are at
their maximum size and falling leaves can make them more noticeable.
** John Hamer was visiting in the Surveillors
Lake area near Fernie, B.C. in June when a BALD EAGLE [Pygargue à tête blanche]
suddenly swooped down in front of him to grab a fish lunch just as John was
turning on his camera, but he still caught the action.
** Brian Stone did a short hike around
his neighborhood on Wednesday to as usual find more than most of us notice with
his camera. He came across a duo of COMMON LEPIOTA MUSHROOMS to show the
smooth, bulbous base, not in a sac like its destroying angel lookalike and the
partial veil like a folded up stocking, not the hanging apron style of the
destroying angel partial veil. Both have the free gills that can be seen at the
base of the stalk at the cap. This duo is a bit past prime, but do show the
significant features.
The WARTY LEAF BEETLE stopped for a
photo in its imitation of a piece of caterpillar frass (poop). A CRANEFLY looking
very much like the insect in the grip of the wasp that Brian Coyle submitted
yesterday tarried for a nice photo. WOOLLY ALDER APHIDS were again about
enjoying the sunshine. This is that time of year when they develop wings and
seek out their alternate host for the winter, looking like small snowflakes in
the air. WOOLLY BEAR CATERPILLARS were again on the move. There sure seems like
a lot of this species on the move at the moment.
** We frequently get photos of birds
banded or marked in some way to track and study their movements. This is
frequently done as well with fish with some very sophisticated, state of the
art methods like the birds. One method used in fish that is relatively
inexpensive is the spaghetti tag. The attached photo of a striped bass with a
so called “spaghetti tag” attached was caught off Cape Enrage on September 21.
It had been tagged on July 14, 2014 by the Acadia University striped bass
research team at a commercial herring weir at Bramber, N.S. on the Minas Basin.
It was 51 cm. when tagged and was not encountered until the tagged fish was
caught measuring 76 cm. on September 21 near Cape Enrage.
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
AMERICAN PIPIT. OCT 9, 2019. MARGUERITE WINSOR
AMERICAN PIPITS. OCT 9, 2019. MARGUERITE WINSOR
BALD EAGLE AND LUNCH. JUNE, 2019. JOHN HAMER
COMMON LEPIOTA MUSHROOMS. OCT. 09, 2019. BRIAN STONE
COMMON LEPIOTA MUSHROOMS. OCT. 09, 2019. BRIAN STONE
CRANE FLY. OCT. 09, 2019.. BRIAN STONE
WARTY LEAF BEETLE. OCT. 09, 2019.. BRIAN STONE
WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER. OCT 9, 2019. ALDO DORIO
WOOLLY ALDER APHID. OCT. 09, 2019.. BRIAN STONE
WOOLLY BEAR CATERPILLAR. OCT. 09, 2019.. BRIAN STONE