Editor & Proofreader

Editor: Nelson Poirier    Proofreader: Louise Nichols

Saturday, 26 September 2020

Sept 26 2020

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, 26 September 2020 (Saturday)

 To respond by email, 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

Transcript by: Catherine Clements

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

** A short version today due to editor being in an area of very limited cell and internet connections.

**Lisa Morris notes her ANISE [Anis] plants in her Moncton yard, blooming at the moment, have so many bees on them it looks like a Christmas tree! Note the loaded pollen sacs on the legs of the photo that Lisa submits. It’s starting to get late for bees, as only the mated queen will survive the winter to get the whole cycle started again next spring.

 

 **Brian Stone went out early on Thursday to Petit-Cap to check for special visitors, but did not have too much luck with those. He saw a few regularly-expected birds, but got some fantastic photos. A few dozen SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS [Pluvier semipalmé] were still present, along with one SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER [Bécasseau semipalmé]. Two BALD EAGLES [Pygargue à tête blanche] were resting on the sandbar, and several hundred DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS [Cormoran à aigrettes] were doing the same, but were too distant for a photo. A pair of SANDERLINGS [Bécasseau sanderling] added a bit of variety at the last moment. A group of four to five CABBAGE WHITE BUTTERFLIES [Piéride du chou] were interacting with each other like a tiny white whirlwind along the edge of the beach. The wind from the strong weather earlier had sculptured artistic contrails of sand behind objects on the beach, which Brian got photos of.

In other areas, Brian photographed a GREAT CORMORANT [Grand Cormoran] that was reported by Mitch Doucet at the Petit-Cap wharf, and a WOOD DUCK [Canard branchu] and DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT [Cormoran à aigrettes] at the Cap-Pelé lagoons. Note the male Wood Duck is back in breeding plumage already. Brian’s comparison photos of Great Cormorant and Double-crested Cormorant nice show the easily recognized head and breast features to differentiate the two juvenile birds. The yellow throat with white pouch behind and the dark neck area of the Great Cormorant show nicely in Brian’s photos.

 nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

 Nelson Poirier,

 Nature Moncton

BEE WITH LOADED POLLON SACS. SEPT 25, 2020. LISA MORRIS

GREAT CORMORANT (JUVENILE). SEPT. 24, 2020. BRIAN STONE

GREAT CORMORANT (JUVENILE). SEPT. 24, 2020. BRIAN STONE

DOUBLE-CRESTED  CORMORANT (JUVENILE). SEPT. 24, 2020. BRIAN STONE

SANDERLINGS. SEPT. 24, 2020. BRIAN STONE

SANDERLING. SEPT. 24, 2020. BRIAN STONE

SEMIPALMATED PLOVER SEPT. 24, 2020.. BRIAN STONE

SEMIPALMATED PLOVER SEPT. 24, 2020.. BRIAN STONE

SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER. SEPT. 24, 2020. BRIAN STONE

SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER. SEPT. 24, 2020. BRIAN STONE

BALD EAGLES (ADULT AND JUVENILE). SEPT. 24, 2020. BRIAN STONE

SAND. SEPT. 24, 2020. BRIAN STONE

CABBAGE WHITE BUTTERFLIES. SEPT. 24, 2020. BRIAN STONE

WOOD DUCK (MALE). SEPT. 24, 2020. BRIAN STONE

 


Friday, 25 September 2020

Sept 25 2020

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, September 25, 2020 (Friday)

 

 

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

Transcript by: Louise Nichols nicholsl@eastlink.ca

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

 

** Jane Leblanc got photos of a copulating pair of AUTUMN MEADOWHAWK DRAGONFLIES [Sympétrum tardif] and one of the male alone.  This species is a late flyer with obvious plans of propagation to continue late as well.  The brown legs and the short yellow to orange/red pseudostigma (the elongated spot near the end of the wings) help separate this meadowhawk from similar ones.  Jane saw them in a bog near her St. Martins home.  Jane also had a GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET [Roitelet à couronne dorée] visit her yard pine tree for a photo-op.

 

** Aldo Dorio is continuing to see AMERICAN PIPITS [Pipit d'Amérique] on the shoreline at Hay Island and he sends a photo.  Aldo also got a photo of a GREEN SNAKE.  This is a small, often led-pencil-diameter sized snake that is very gentle if picked up and, after a moment, seems to appreciate body warmth.  It would be often under 12 inches in length.

 

** It’s Friday and time to review the next week’s Sky-at-a-Glace, courtesy of sky-guru Curt Nason.  

 

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2020 September 26 – October 3
The expanded Major League Baseball playoff season kicks off, or rather throws out the first pitch, on Tuesday and they always arrange to have the Great Square of Pegasus form a diamond in the eastern sky to commemorate this event. At home plate is Algenib, the third brightest star of the constellation. Who’s on first? Yes, that is Markab, the brightest star of Pegasus. On second base we have its second brightest luminary, Sheat, which is probably what he mutters when he makes an error. On third is a star brighter than the other three, Alpheratz, who was traded to Andromeda but still likes to whip the ball around the horn with his former teammates.

Trailing off toward the dugout from third is a string of stars that forms the left side of Princess Andromeda. The second in the string is no second string player. Mirach is as bright as Alpheratz and shows a distinct orange colour in binoculars. Raising your binoculars above the string from Mirach will bring M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, into your view, and from a dark sky that is a view you don’t want to miss. It might resemble a pool of champagne on the clubhouse floor of the World Series champions. Go Expos!

This Week in the Solar System    
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:11 am and sunset will occur at 7:07 pm, giving 11 hours, 56 minutes of daylight (7:16 am and 7:13 pm in Saint John).  Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:20 am and set at 6:54 pm, giving 11 hours, 34 minutes of daylight (7:25 am and 6:59 pm in Saint John).  

The Full Harvest Moon rises around sunset on Thursday, and on the next evening it makes a spectacular conjunction with Mars. By now Mars has exceeded Jupiter in brightness. Saturn is stationary on Monday, beginning an eastern movement against the stars in an eventually futile attempt to keep ahead of Jupiter. Telescope users might catch Jupiter’s stormy Red Spot around 9:30 pm Sunday, and then watch its moon Europa emerge from eclipse at 11:41 pm. Mercury is at greatest eastern elongation on Thursday but remains low in the western sky after sunset. Venus passes very close to Regulus, Leo’s brightest star, for stargazers in the eastern hemisphere next Saturday, but we see it just above Regulus on the morning of October 2 and just below it on October 3.

With astronomy meetings and outreach activities on hold, you can watch the local Sunday Night Astronomy Show at 8 pm, and view archived shows, on YouTube at: 
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAEHfOWyL-kNH7dBVHK8spg

Questions? Contact Curt Nason at
nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.



nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton




 

 

AMERICAN PIPITS. SEPT 24, 2020. ALDO DORIO

GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET. SEPT 24, 2020.  JANE LEBLANC

GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET. SEPT 24, 2020.  JANE LEBLANC

AUTUMN MEADOWHAWK DRAGONFLY. SEPT. 21, 2020.  JANE LEBLANC

AUTUMN MEADOWHAWK DRAGONFLIES. SEPT. 21, 2020.  JANE LEBLANC

Pegasus diamond

 
GREEN SNAKE. SEPT 24, 2020. ALDO DORIO

Thursday, 24 September 2020

Sept 24 2020

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, September 24, 2020 (Thursday)  

 

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

Transcript by: Brian Stone bjpstone@gmail.com

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

 

 

** The burn over area on the South Cains River Rd. near Blackville is getting lots of attention from naturalists. This area is much more extensive than I had originally thought and I am attaching a link to the CBC release on it back when the fire started in June. Pam Watters saved and shared the link below that describes the event fully.

 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/forest-fire-blackville-burn-1.5586516

 

 Pam and her husband Phil Riebel also had some interesting bird sightings when out in their boat on Miramichi Bay and Miramichi River on Monday and Tuesday. Phil got a photo of a PARASITIC JAEGER [Labbe parasite] as it harassed a COMMON TERN [Sterne pierregarin] colony on Fox Island in Miramichi Bay on Monday. The Parasitic Jaeger’s modus operandi is to harass the terns into dropping the food they are carrying and quickly stealing it.

 

They were also very surprised to spot a LEACH'S STORM-PETRELS [Océanite cul-blanc] fly up from the water near Middle Island which is part of the estuary of the Miramichi River between Loggieville and Chatham. It was certainly an unusual spot to come across a Storm-Petrel. There potentially is a reason for it being there associated with Hurricane Teddy farther south but the hurricane had not hit that area yet and when it did on Tuesday night and Wednesday it was little more than a sniffle. Phil got a great flight shot of the Leach’s Storm-Petrel.

 

** Yvette Richard got a very striking photo of a GREAT BLUE HERON [Grand Héron] fly pass at sunset over Cocagne Bay on Wednesday evening. Yvette calls it “The Calm After the Storm”.

 

** Susan Richards had an EASTERN PHOEBE [Moucherolle phébi] flycatching on Wednesday around the roof soffit  of their Taylor Village home. It briefly landed on a wire for a nice portrait.

 

** Anna Tucker does an interesting few day getaway a few times a year to book a certain room at the Comfort Inn in Truro and Amherst where she can birdwatch from her window. Amherst is her RING-NECKED PHEASANT [Faisan de Colchide] watching site and the Truro location room looks out over the marshlands where she can watch raptors. On one occasion she had a RED-TAILED HAWK [Buse à queue rousse] land on some cars outside her window for some reason and then to nearby poles and utility wires. She shares a few photos of the event.

 

** SKUNKS [Moufette] are very busy fueling up for the winter at the moment. They like to dig holes looking for underground fattened grubs at the moment. I am attaching a few photos of diggings and I am very suspicious that they were done by a Skunk outside our Miramichi camp. These diggings appeared at exactly the same time and the same places last year. I’ve had a chat with my dog Sadie to not interfere! Crows can do this as well but to me this is more typical of a skunk excavation as they are done during the night.  

 

 

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton




 

LEACH'S STORM-PETREL. SEPT 21, 2020. PHIL RIEBEL

PARASITIC JAEGER. SEPT 21, 2020. PHIL RIEBEL

EASTERN PHOEBE. SEPT 23, 2020. SUSAN RICHARDS

GREAT BLUE HERON AT SUNSET. SEPT 23, 2020. YVETTE RICHARD

RED-TAILED HAWK. ANNA TUCKER

RED-TAILED HAWK. ANNA TUCKER

RED-TAILED HAWK. ANNA TUCKER

 
SKUNK EXCAVATIONS. SEPT 22, 2020. NELSON POIRIER

Wednesday, 23 September 2020

Sept 23 2020

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, September 23, 2020 (Wednesday)  

 

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

Transcript by: Brian Stone bjpstone@gmail.com

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

 

 ** Aldo Dorio got a superb photo of an AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER [Pluvier bronzé] from a side view that nicely shows that longer primary projection than the Black-bellied Plover. I am going to add Gilles Belliveau’s helpful comments as it is easy to confuse the juvenile versions of the Black-bellied and American Golden-Plover (at least in the editor's eyes).

Gilles comments that this Plover looks like an American Golden Plover. The bill looks a bit short and more slender than he would expect on a Black-bellied Plover, the primary projection seems long, it has a fairly dark auricular, and the cap appears fairly dark with a moderately prominent supercillium. Also the blurry, grayish brown markings on the underparts seem to go all the way down onto the belly rather than being mostly on the chest, but this is less useful as some Black-bellied Plovers also have this though most have fairly white bellies.

 

 Aldo also photographed a juvenile RUDDY TURNSTONE [Tournepierre à collier] showing the juvenile scaled feather plumage.

 

** Rheal Vienneau came across an adult BEDSTRAW HAWK-MOTH, aka GALIUM SPHINX MOTH in his Dieppe greenhouse on Tuesday morning. This is surely a very late bloomer as this is the time of year that we can expect to see the plump caterpillars moving about ready to cocoon for the winter.

 

**During Wednesday’s rain, Marguerite Winsor had 3 EASTERN BLUEBIRDS visiting the roof of their neighbour’s house across the street in Salisbury and also perching on the power line.   She was able to take some photos, one of them with a Chipping Sparrow.

 

Marquerite and Bill’s big treat was Tuesday on their return from a weekend in St. George when they saw 55 wild TURKEYS in 4 different flocks in the area of Upper Waweig Road.

In the group photo, they we had stopped by the side of the road and that group of wild Turkeys kept coming toward their car on the side of the road. They ran into the woods when a vehicle came by. They counted themselves very lucky!

Marquerite was also able to photograph one lone wild Turkey in someone’s yard after the rest of the flock had flown away.  

 

** The Cape Jourimain Nature Center is sponsoring an Eco Conference virtually this coming Thursday and Friday, September 24th and 25th. I am attaching the information below to register for those who wish to participate. I apologize for the late notice but was not advised of it earlier. Note that in the registration one has to register for each day separately and there is no fee. This will be available for viewing at some time after the event so if you register promptly and can’t make it for the time of delivery you can get it later. This form of attending presentations has become popular to meet Covid restrictions and has turned out to be a great way to share information. I was able to listen to the webinar that Dorothy Diamond gave on sparrows recently and it was a very rewarding experience. I have registered for the Cape Jourimain event and look forward to participating later to not miss some great sounding presentations. Check out the notice and registration information below.

 

Join us Thursday, September 24 and Friday, September 25 for our special online Eco Conference.

Register online at:  https://www.capejourimain.ca/events/eco-conference

 

Thursday

1PM - Conservation, Stewardship, and Engagement in New Brunswick

By Nature Trust of New Brunswick

2PM - Monitoring Monarchs and Milkweed in NB

By Nature NB

3PM— Climate Change in the Acadian Forest

By Community Forests International

Friday

9AM— The Motus Wildlife Tracking System

By Birds Canada

10AM - Watershed Management: Local Monitoring and Solutions

By Petitcodiac Watershed Alliance

11AM— Water Quality Monitoring in the Cape Tormentine Peninsula Watershed

By EOS Eco-Energy

 

 

** Anna Tucker watched and photographed a group of HOUSE SPARROWS [Moineau domestique] in bushes in front of the Central United Church on Church St. in Moncton on Saturday morning. This introduced sparrow species has decreased dramatically in number in New Brunswick which in one way is a blessing in disguise for the many cavity nesting native species which the House Sparrow can outcompete. It is apparent in some of Anna’s photos that there are young-of-the-year birds present.

 

** We have gotten a bit more involved than we had intended on some submitted LADIES’-TRESSES ORCHID photos that have been sent in but we have not posted as we were having challenges getting them identified by lack of responses from Orchid experts who are much more knowledgeable on late season Ladies’-tresses orchids and identifying them on photos. Brian Stone put together a Dropbox link below of more photos than some may wish to peruse but I hope the effort will eventually be of value.

Our latest comments, from reliable sources, suggests the 3 late season blooming Ladies’-tresses Orchids, NODDING LADIES’-TRESSES (which has been broken down), YELLOW LADIES’-TRESSES and APPALACHIAN LADIES’-TRESSES (another new one) can be very challenging to identify on photos. The attached link shows the photographs and the dates on each photo. Initial identifications of the Dropbox link suggests that numbers 1 to 28 are Nodding Ladies’-tresses (Spiranthes cernua), numbers 29 to 44 could be potential Yellow Ladies’-tresses (Spiranthes ochroleuca), and numbers 45 to 52 to be Appalachian Ladies’-tresses (Spiranthes arcisepala). Number 1 to 28 was photographed in Miramichi of several plants, 29 to 44 are of one plant on Louise Nichols property in Aulac, and 45 to 52 are from the Black Beach area near Saint John and are of several plants. This may be much more information than most may really want to know but some projects have to be done! Visit the Dropbox link of Ladies'-tresses photos below

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/l11hth3qun1d6ts/AAA6l2m6JzTNn_F8c9gmwcSsa?dl=0                

 

 

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton


AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER (JUVENILE). SEPT 22, 2020.  ALDO DORIO

AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER (JUVENILE). SEPT 22, 2020.  ALDO DORIO

RUDDY TURNSTONE (JUVENILE). SEPT 22, 2020.  ALDO DORIO

TURKEY (WILD). SEPT 21, 2020. MARGUERITE WINSOR
TURKEYS (WILD). SEPT 21, 2020. MARGUERITE WINSOR

EASTERN BLUEBIRD AND CHIPPING SPARROW. SEPT 22, 2020. MARGUERITE WINSOR

HOUSE SPARROWS. SEPT 17, 2020.  ANNA TUCKER

HOUSE SPARROWS. SEPT 17, 2020.  ANNA TUCKER

HOUSE SPARROWS. SEPT 17, 2020.  ANNA TUCKER

BEDSTRAW HAWK-MOTH AKA GALIUM SPHINX MOTH. SEPT 22, 2020. RHEAL VIENNEAU