Nature Moncton Nature News: June 7 2020

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, June 7, 2020 (Sunday)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Transcript by: David Christie maryspt@mac.com

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

** Wayne Corcoran in Chelmsford, near Quarryville, sends us a few pictures of the birds he has had this spring. He has a very vocal EASTERN PHOEBE [Moucherolle phébi] singing every morning commenting it is so nice to hear. He has a TREE SWALLOW [Hirondelle bicolore] nesting in one of his boxes, lots of male and female PURPLE FINCHES [Roselin pourpré], a few EVENING GROSBEAKS [Gros-bec errant] still there, male and female ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAKS [Cardinal à poitrine rose]. An EASTERN BLUEBIRD [Merlebleu de l’Est] is checking out one of his boxes, a lot of AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES [Chardonneret jaune], male and female BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS [Vacher à tête brune], and lots of DOWNY [Pic mineur] and HAIRY WOODPECKERS [Pic chevelu].

Wayne’s site has to be action central for Evening Grosbeaks. He has had a very significant number of them for the last several winters, and several continue into spring, probably nesting nearby.

** More giant silk moths are about and we can expect more of these beauties over the next weeks. Audrey Goguen had a large LUNA MOTH [Papillon lune] perch on a pole in her Northview Street yard in Moncton all day Saturday. At one point a bird flew up beside it, but it didn’t move and the bird left, possibly assuming this was a bigger fare than it could handle. These adult giant silk moths are on mating flights, only to breed, lay eggs and die, leaving the eggs to hatch into larvae and continue the cycle. Their larval caterpillars can be large and colourful.

** Bob Blake reports that they have HAIRY WOODPECKERS [Pic chevelu] now bringing fledglings to raw suet for several days. Bob comments that there is quite a difference between the clean plumage of the youngsters and the very soiled and unkempt plumage of the parent.

** Anna Tucker and some of her family were in the Hillsborough area on Friday and noted two eaglets in the BALD EAGLE [Pygargue à tête blanche] nest in the cemetery off Grey’s Island Road.

She also got a nice photo of a male YELLOW WARBLER [Paruline jaune] showing its reddish breast streaks.

** Brian Stone got a great number of nature photos during the last several days. They include a first-summer AMERICAN REDSTART [Paruline flamboyante], ALDER FLYCATCHER [Moucherolle des aulnes] identifying it by its vocalization, RED-EYED VIREO [Viréo aux yeux rouges], ARCTIC SKIPPER [Échiquier], DREAMY DUSKY WING BUTTERFLY [Hespérie givrée], SILVERY BLUE BUTTERFLY [Bleu argenté], HARVESTMAN, aka Daddy longlegs [tipule], FOUR-SPOTTED SKIMMER [La quadrimaculée] dragonfly, blooming STARFLOWER [Trientale boréale], BLUE-EYED GRASS [Bermudienne montagnarde], FORGET-ME-NOT [Grémillet], BUNCHBERRY [Quatre-temps] and BOG LAUREL [Kalmia à feuilles d’Andromède]. Note the arrangement of the Bog Laurel, where the central filaments can close over unsuspecting insects to digest them.

He also got photos of the moths PALE ALDER MOTH (Tacparia detersata), POWDERED BIGWING (Lobophora nivigerata) moth, and the YELLOW SLANT-LINE (Tetracis crocallata) moth (confirmed by Stuart Tingley).

** At our Little Southwest Miramichi camp I take all clean compost and fish entrails to a trail off a woods-road, where I’ve placed a trail camera to see what drops by for free lunch. So far, we’ve had BLACK BEARS [Ours noir], RED FOX [Renard roux], COYOTE [Coyote] and lots of RAVENS and CROWS. On Saturday’s visit to replenish dining items and change camera cards, we got quite a surprise as we approached. Pat commented “that is sure a large Raven/crow perched in that tree but they don’t have a red head”.” Yes, it was a TURKEY VULTURE [Urubu à tête rouge] and we were able to get some distant photos of that individual. We were quite pleased with our new dining guest! The real surprise came when we got back to camp to look at the camera card. There were no mammals on it but there was a flurry of Turkey Vulture activity, seemingly five to seven individuals dining out.

I have only noted the very occasional Turkey Vulture during the past several years in the Miramichi area and have never seen more than a few at once, so finding this number in the area was a real surprise. It didn’t appear on the camera but a mammal did leave a scat 1 inch in diameter and 8 inches long, suspecting a Coyote as there was a hair component. We are all quite anxious to see what the next days’ activity shows, and will be much more careful approaching to check on daytime visitors.

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton