Nature Moncton Nature News: July 8 2020

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, July 08, 2020 (Wednesday)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Transcript by: Brian Stone bjpstone@gmail.com

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

** Jane Leblanc shares a photo of a Wood Frog [Grenouille des bois] that was so much on our minds in April and May but now is quiet and seemingly not seen frequently. Note the dark eye mask that very quickly identifies it but there is variability in this species.

**Evan Smith sends a sequence of photos of an adult Bald Eagle taking flight from a light standard in Wickham. They usually fly away from him but this one posed for Evan and then flew directly over him to give some superb photos of this majestic bird Evan was able to capture.

**Leigh Eaton is back in Pointe du Chene for a while and put up

 bird feeders late Monday night and birds located them very early

 Tuesday morning. Purple Finches seemed very rare in Moncton but

 they were quite evident there and returned many times throughout

 the day.

The Downy Woodpeckers are also frequent visitors and one appeared to be feeding the other but both appeared to be mature.

** Aldo Dorio spotted his first LESSER YELLOWLEGS [Petit Chevalier] at Hay Island on Tuesday bringing us back to think about shorebirds for another season. Lesser Yellowlegs are suspected but the photos didn’t catch the important head/bill length comparison in some photos and bills appear slender. Corrections are welcomed. The WILLET is resident at Hay Island with SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS joining the yellowlegs. The shorebirds numbered 10-15.

He also got a photo of FIREWEED in its colourful bloom and comments that his EASTERN BLUEBIRD [Merlebleu de l'Est] pair in his Neguac yard continues to feed young. Fledging must be very soon.

** Brian Stone has been protecting the YELLOW-SPOTTED SALAMANDER [Salamandre maculée] larva that he rescued from a dried pond. In the past few weeks he has started feeding it chopped earthworms which it has taken to heartily. Brian sends a photo of it before a big feed and after showing a very full tummy!

** Recently Aldo Dorio sent a photo of some roadside foliage covered with tents of caterpillars defoliating the bushes that the tents covered. I recently noticed the same defoliation in the Sunny Corner area and collected some of the massive numbers of caterpillars in the webbed tents to identify them and the photos are attached. This is the UGLY NEST CATERPILLAR MOTH larvae and they are sure doing a number on affected foliage at the moment, especially Chokecherry. The literature comments that it is more of a cosmetic problem as the defoliated bushes will usually recover.

We have 3 commonly seen web tent caterpillar species in New Brunswick … the Eastern Tent Caterpillar tents appeared earlier in the season, the Uglynest Caterpillar nests are appearing now, and the Fall Webworm Caterpillar feeding tents will appear soon. The 3 caterpillars are readily identified on close observation.

** Pat and I made a quick stop at Hay Island on Tuesday. It was a bit of a surprise to come across a lone ASPARAGUS PLANT, the leaves giving it a feathery appearance. The plant was blooming its yellow-green flowers, hanging at random among the branches. WINTERBERRY HOLLY was also in prime bloom, showing its very small white flowers close to the branches. It was disappointing to see the boardwalk closed and in need of reparations as well as the washroom facilities locked. Hopefully it all can be repaired. One can still walk along the shoreline, the paths, and enjoy the beach.

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton