NATURE
MONCTON NATURE NEWS
Sept 27,
2022 (Tuesday)
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Edited by:
Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
**Suzanne Rousseau had her last Monarch Butterfly eclose on Sunday, but it needed her help because it had no silk to hang from.
Suzanne has raised 60 Monarch Butterflies in her gazebo this season (Wow!) and lost 2 that she suspected got eaten by probably a mouse. She would leave them there overnight when they weren’t ready to fly. This is the 5th summer that Suzanne has been raising Monarch Butterflies.
**Leigh Eaton was a bit surprised to spot a crane fly on their bathroom floor on Sunday morning. The body of the crane fly may not be large, however their impressive leg length from tip to tip can be up to 25 cm.
The adult crane fly would only live several days and does not feed. The mission of the adult is solely to mate and lay eggs.
The cylindrical wormlike larvae grow up to 4 cm in length and are often referred to as leatherjackets due to their tough skin. The larvae are found in the soil feeding on decaying vegetation and plant roots. If the larvae happen to congregate in large numbers, they can cause bare dead patches in a lawn or field.
**It’s that time of year when we may see a Western Conifer Seed Bug around our homes or outbuildings as they make overwintering plans.
Donat Robichaud from Russellville shares an excellent photo of one of two that he found around his home.
The Western Conifer Seed Bug is native to North America west of the Rockies on the Pacific Coast. It has in recent years expanded its range to Eastern Canada including the Maritimes. The swelling of the tibia (arrowed) is a great clue to identifying this bug.
It feeds on the sap of developing conifer seeds causing them to wither and misdevelop.
**It’s that time of year when duck identification can sometimes be confusing with some duck species still in eclipse plumage and young-of-the-year birds molting into adult plumage.
Aldo Dorio photographed a duck at Hay Island in that category. It would appear to be a Mallard Duck, either a fall edition female or young-of-the-year male.
**Verica
LeBlanc paid a visit to Escuminac and Pointe-Sapin on Sunday as often the waves
are higher after a storm. Verica also enjoyed the cloudscape.
As the storm had already passed the surf was reasonably calm and not at all high. However, the angry clouds were very visible.
They noted a Herring Gull with the
surf around it matching its colouring. (Editor’s note: this bird is an adult
but is already taking on winter plumage showing the head and neck area streaked
with brown).
A Savannah Sparrow was also cooperative
at Escuminac.
On
their homebound trip on arriving back at Chatham, the sun lit up the clouds presenting them with a lovely pink hue, giving the impression that the clouds were just hanging
cotton balls.
**Lisa
Morris photographed an interesting beetle back in June that we did not hear
back on identification until recently.
It
turned out to be a Hairy Flower Scarab which is a bee mimic and quite
effective at it.
**Brian Stone joined Nelson Poirier and a group of other dedicated birders on an outing to the Cap Pele, Petit Cap, and Cape Jourimain areas on Sunday. Several rare target birds were not found, but many other wonderful regulars were in full view and a number of those made it onto the camera's card to give the photographer a couple evenings worth of editing.
At Cap Pele (Niles St.) a small
group of Bonaparte's Gulls were resting on the beach with Ring-billed
Gulls and a few other Gulls. A Great Blue Heron patrolled the
rocky breakwater. At Petit Cap a good selection of Gulls populated
the shoreline with White-rumped Sandpipers, Semipalmated Plovers,
Black-bellied Plovers (Editor's note: note the black axillary (armpit) of the Black-bellied Plover in one flight photo), and Sanderlings. A Common Tern (Editor's note: note the dark in the upper primaries -- arrowed on the photo -- often present as a wedge particularly evident in fall) flew
overhead close by while others flew at a distance and a dozen or so Great
Blue Herons waited patiently in the grassy dunes for feeding time to come.
At Cape
Jourimain, while fruitlessly waiting and hoping for rare species to make an
appearance, several other more cooperative species did show up and posed briefly for the binoculars and cameras of the group. Seen were Blackpoll
Warblers (fall edition), male and female Black-throated Blue Warblers, Yellow-rumped
Warblers, Northern Parula, Black and White Warbler, and Golden-crowned
Kinglet. One rarity that did show up, although a bit timidly, was a Clay-coloured
Sparrow that foraged on the path at a distance and then perched up in a
tree beside the path, both times in the shadows. Autumn Meadowhawk
Dragonflies were abundant and a Porcupine came out onto the path
well away from the group.
Nelson
Poirier
Nature
Moncton
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