Nature Moncton Nature News: Aug 31 2020

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, August 31, 2020 (Monday)

To view the photos mentioned in this edition go to http://nminfoline.blogspot.ca .

To respond by e-mail, please address your message to the information line editor, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com .

Please advise the editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com if any errors are noted in wording or photo labelling.

For more information on Nature Moncton, check the website at www.naturemoncton.com .

Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

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

** Roger LeBlanc advises of a reliable report of a SANDHILL CRANE [Grue du Canada] in flight over Shediac Bridge flying towards the Northumberland Strait on Sunday. There have been several reports of Sandhill Cranes being seen on PEI so definitely a bird to watch for here in New Brunswick.

Roger also reports noting 12 different shorebird species at Petit Cap on Sunday. They were all expected species but the diversity of shorebirds observed at this site continues to make it a good time window for shorebird watching.

**Carmella Melanson visited the Memramcook Arthur St. lagoon on August 29. There were at least 30 NORTHERN SHOVELERS (Canard souchet) present. Carmella comments on looking at a photo of a few when she got back home, the first thing that came to mind when she saw the attached photo was Jurassic Park especially with those Northern Shoveler teeth in full view and one of its kin possibly having second thoughts!

** Aldo Dorio sends a photo, distant and close-up, of a WASP we see this time of year that never fails to get a second look; it’s the AMERICAN PELECINID WASP. The female is quite a large insect, with a long curved ovipositor, as the photo shows. The adult feeds on nectar and pollen; however the eggs she lays are parasitoid on JUNE BEETLE [hanneton commun] larval grubs. She uses her long ovipositor to go down into the earth to deposit an egg on a June Beetle larvae, growing underground at the moment. The egg hatches into a larvae that feeds on the June Beetle larval grub. The adult wasp, as seen in Aldo’s photo, is harmless to people.

Aldo also got a photo of a GRAY CATBIRD that is surely flashing that cinnamon signature undertail covert we don’t often see so well.

**Yvette Richard reports she still had quite a few RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRDS of both genders to her feeders on Sunday, resting and fluffing in the rain to get more nice hummingbird photos to enjoy. Their time with us will be ending over the next weeks.

** Brian Stone got close-up zoomed photos of what he suspects are 3 different RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD [Colibri à gorge rubis] individuals to his feeder. Note the off-white material on their bills. Gilles Belliveau suspects it may be pollen that can be seen on the base of the bill and forehead. He has noted this is especially common when they nectar on JEWELWEED [impatiente de Balfour]. Gilles also comments that in doing a Google image search for ‘Hummingbird with pollen on bill’ gives several similar photos.

This probably is much more common than we note as don’t often see photos so zoomed in as Brian’s photos today are.

** Laura was kind to us to give us a pleasant dose of very needed sustained rainfall. The moisture and cooler temperatures, if sustained, may indeed be very kind to the mushroom community over the next week. I noted some PIGSKIN POISON PUFFBALLS [scléroderme vulgaire] popped up very quickly. This is the only non-edible Puffball we have in New Brunswick. When fresh and cut into cross sections, this species is almost always black or very dark grey inside but if not, the thick warty skin is a good clue as to its identity.

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton