Nature Moncton Nature News: Sept 12 2020

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, September 12, 2020 (Saturday)

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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 comments that her St. Martins yard WITCH HAZEL SHRUB is already in bloom which is 2 weeks earlier than last year and is developing the buds and ripening seed pods. Witch Hazel can bloom right up into December which is very different from other blooming plants and is a unique shrub for sure. Jane also had a small flock of what all seem to be YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS [Paruline à croupion jaune] in the softwoods along her driveway on Friday.

** Brian Stone made a brief visit to Wilson/Bell Marsh on Friday. He noted NODDING BUR-MARIGOLD blooming in abundance. He spotted a SHORT-TAILED WEASEL [Belette à courte queue] make a run across the trail and scramble into the foliage far too fast for a photo in true Weasel style. A lone GREAT BLUE HERON [Grand Héron] was there and the marsh did not seem busy in general but no doubt the heavy foliage at the moment has lots of Mother Nature’s community well hidden.

** BUTTER AND EGGS (Linaria vulgaris) is a low plant in full beautiful bloom at the moment. It is a host plant of the BROCADE TOADFLAX MOTH and it is a good time to look for the colourful medium sized caterpillar as in the attached photos I found on Wednesday. I put one in a dish with the host plant and it is contentedly eating the foliage of the plant as is shown by all the frass (poop) in the container Friday. I am hoping it will soon develop into a cocoon and we’ll see the adult next spring. A photo from the net of the adult moth is attached. I have never seen it come to my moth attractor light.

** Jim Johnson came across a very interesting TURKEY VULTURE [Urubu à tête rouge] scenario recently. He had noted Turkey Vultures moving about in an area of MacDougall Settlement and he spotted one on an old barn abandoned since 1976 and sent a photo. There was an obvious opening in the barn roof beside where he took the photo and it looked like the Turkey Vulture had a light gray head which sure got the heart beating, and was even more exciting as it was the barn on the farm that I grew up on and knew the barn very intimately growing up.

Jim and I went on a sleuthing mission on Friday to the old barn and climbed up into the loft, tiptoeing over the decaying flooring to see piles of guano but no evidence of a nest. However I understand that a Turkey Vulture nest is simply a scrape to hold the eggs so it could have been in a lot of places. We left, and when visiting a neighbor we saw a Turkey Vulture fly down towards the old barn and we very carefully edged back to see if it had landed on the barn. To our delight it had and it let us photograph it to show that it was indeed a young-of-the-year with a gray head and still some white natal down on the head. It was a surreal moment to watch it by its hole in the roof and later fly off looking no different in its flight skills than a mature adult.

Jim got other flight photos that suggest strongly that at least 2 young were raised in that old barn. As chance would have it the second owner had recently passed away and the house and barn were sold to new occupants who were moving in on Friday. They were no doubt taken aback by the surprise visitors but dropped their moving and joined us to explore their new barn. The future of the Turkey Vultures nesting site will probably be uncertain.

Jim and I got carried away photographing but at least we are not attaching the 100 photos take!!

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton