NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, May 10, 2021 (Monday)
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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Transcript by Susan Richards susan_richards@rogers.com
Info Line #: 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)
**Ray Gauvin has been lurking for a photo of a GREAT EGRET [Grande Aigrette] that has been in the Parlee Beach marshes for several
days now and finally hit pay-dirt with patience and got some great action
photos of it enjoying the fish fare in the area. Note the lore around the eye and the dark
colour on the top of the bill showing it in high breeding plumage.
**Holly Fraser got photos of a young MOOSE [Orignal] out in a
field between Douglastown and Neguac. We
had a discussion on this a few editions ago.
The Moose has very rough pelage from scratching off winter ticks, which
are now falling off to let the beautiful rich pelage of summer come back. The Moose does look rather thin which may
have been resultant anemia from a heavy load of ticks possibly from the mild
winter.
**Lois Budd hosted a NASHVILLE
WARBLER [Paruline à joues grises] to
her Salisbury area suet feeder on Sunday.
Great to see that warbler returning.
Lois also has 15+ YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS
[Paruline à croupion jaune] coming to
suet. Suet feeders sure have been
popular with the early warblers during this cold snap. She even noted a few Yellow-rumped Warblers
trying to get a drink from the hummingbird feeder.
**Jane Leblanc had 2 male RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD [Colibri à gorge rubis] arrive to her St. Martins yard on Sunday and in true hummer
fashion started fighting over the two feeders she had out.
**Jim Johnson in Scotch Settlement also had his first
Ruby-throated Hummingbird arrive on Sunday.
**Lynda Leclerc’s family in Quebec, east of Montreal
heard a vocalization during the night near their home to wonder what it may
be. I have heard this sound at night
near our Miramichi camp and it turned out to be the call of a vixen RED FOX [Renard roux] that
can be surprisingly loud. We have also
heard fledgling GREAT HORNED OWL [Grand-duc
d'Amérique] make a similar call, in later season but
am thinking it is a fox. Take a listen
to the link below. Any further comments
or suggestions would be appreciated.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/75aesaiwcech7wv/Bird%20at%20night.m4a?dl=0
**BugGuide has tentatively identified the ant cluster
Brian Stone photographed a few days ago as of the genus Formica commonly known
as wood ants, mound ants, thrashing ants and field ants. The photos do appear to match well so we’ll
go with that labelling and reattach today.
**I visited a burn-over site on Sunday afternoon being
able to see some observations more specific to burn-over habitat. BLACK-BACKED
WOODPECKER [Pic à dos noir] were
present but not in a posing mood. HERMIT THRUSH [Grive solitaire] were more co-operative.
There were hundreds of FALSE MOREL Mushrooms fruiting. This
is not considered an edible species as when it is heated the heat labile toxic
gas, monomethyl hyrazine, is given off.
It is supposedly a choice edible if cooked under a flame hood to exhaust
the labile toxin but have never tried it.
I was really searching for the delectable true morels which a friend had
found 2 days earlier but could not locate any myself. It must be that 50 years ‘younger’ eyes are
sharper! Two other mushrooms noted were
Pyxie Cup and Blue-Staining Cup that like burn-over sites and are early risers. A burn-over is another world unto itself.
We also had our first visit from a beautiful male ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK [Cardinal à poitrine rose] on Sunday morning but it was camera shy.
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
