NATURE
MONCTON NATURE INFORMATION LINE, Oct. 25, 2021 (Monday)
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Edited by:
Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
**Louise Nichols shares some more shorebird photos from this past week
when she visited the Sackville Retention ponds a couple of times. Still
an amazing variety of shorebirds there with the Hudsonian Godwits,
Long-billed Dowitcher and Stilt Sandpiper along with Wilson Snipes,
Yellowlegs, Pectoral Sandpipers and a few Killdeer.
Louise tried
to include some photos where she got species together in one frame that you
wouldn't expect to see together.
What an
amazing diversity of shorebirds this man-made pond is attracting!
**Sometimes
it is very worth looking closely at intact road kills to clearly see field
marks that we would not see in the hand. Leon Gagnon looked closely at a
Black-bellied Plover roadkill that shows the black armpits (arrowed) that is a constant feature in
all plumages of this species. This specimen is in non-breeding winter plumage.
**When
Brian Coyle was photographing Canada geese on Saturday, he noted a small
individual with photo attached. In consultation with Gilles Belliveau, he
comments “It does look quite small but the bill profile and head shape look
pretty much like a Canada Goose rather than a Cackling Goose so I suspect it’s
just a small Canada Goose (either a smaller subspecies or possibly just a
runt).
****Louise Nichols shares a video of a Bobcat that
appeared at her trail cam Friday afternoon. She wishes the camera had kept
recording, but it's short! Louise never realized before seeing Bobcats on the
trail cam that they had such a striking pattern on the back of their ears. (this photo is in daylight so the "tailight' markings are very real) Check
out the action at the link below:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/uunr5ig0fpbmc8t/Bobcat..October%202021.AVI?dl=0
**Grant Ramsay and Magda Kuhn took note of fungi
recycling a dying Spruce tree in Fundy National
Park recently. (Not sure of mushroom species but they sure are at their
mission!)
Also, Grant
adds a splash of colour of a Red Maple tree as the season winds down.
**Susan
Richards photographed a Hover Fly (a.k.a. flower fly, syrphid fly, etc.) on
Chinese Forget-me-nots taken in their wildflower annual garden just newly made
this year. This is the latest they have ever seen annuals still blooming at
this location. They have many insects, butterflies and birds grabbing up
some insects there. It was a lively place and after seeing the results of
what some wildflower plants can attract wildlife, they will replant and
next year adding in milkweed plants from seeds from their milkweed patch.
Added note: They have Swamp Milkweed seeds available for
free. Contact Sue and Fred at 334-0100 if you would like some.
** On Sunday, David and Anita Cannon
wanted to check out the area behind Crandall University. Brian Stone took
them back there to show them around. It was a dim and windy cold walk and
nothing special showed up, but Brian took a few mushroom photos. Anita noticed
some blue fungus growing on a dead branch segment on the ground. This mushroom
is called Green Stain. The mycelium grows among the fibers of deadwood giving
it an antique green colour. Periodically, it will send up small green fruiting
bodies as Brian’s photo shows. Brian was taking some photos of a mushroom and
one photo went out of focus but that change in focus highlighted some very tiny
mushrooms in the background suspected to be of the Marasmius genus. An
opportune accident.
Brian also photographed some mushrooms belonging to
the species Lactarius. The exact species cannot be identified from the
photograph but when the mushroom is cut or bruised, it exudes a latex which may
be clear, white as in this case (arrowed), yellow, orange, and other colours that help in
identifying the species.
**We have lots of Bonaparte’s Gulls in the
area at the moment especially around lagoons and fish plant effluent sites. The
species breeds to the northwest of us but join us in significant numbers after
breeding. Many of the first arrivals are in their black headed breeding
plumage. At the moment we are seeing winter adults, still with very red legs
but only a dark spot behind the eye. This species takes two years to mature to
breeding plumage. Therefore, we are seeing lots of first winter individuals in
the flocks. The black band at the tail apex ‘screams’ immature. The wings also
have a thick black leading and trailing edge which the adults do not have. The legs
of the first winter bird will not turn red until they reach adult plumage. I
was able to photograph a mixed flock of adult and immature birds this past
week. I am attaching more photos than you may care to see but it does show the
different plumages from all different angles if one sifts through the photos. It's a great time of year to peruse gulls as they are freshly molted.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
