NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS
March 18, 2023
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Edited by Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Proofreading
courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca
**John Goobie photographed an evergreen plant on the Dobson trail on February 7. Some of us could not put a handle on the identity until Gart Bishop reviewed it to identify it as Sheep Laurel (Kalmia angustifolia).
This is a
very common native plant but can surely fool neophyte botanists when we see a
photo of this plant in midwinter showing off its greenery in a snowy
background.
**Gordon Rattray is seeing and hearing birds getting
into the spring mood. Gordon has heard Mourning Doves, White-throated
Sparrows, and Black-capped Chickadees singing territory vocalizations.
Gordon also had his first of spring visits from a Song Sparrow.
Also present in his yard are several American Tree Sparrows and Dark-eyed
Juncos.
Gordon had an interesting event on Friday when an
internet technician removed a Bald-faced Hornet nest from his
tower. The nest was built last summer and was about 12 m up in the
air. There were two dead wasps in the nest and some unmatured
pupae. For contrast, Gordon includes a nest he collected several years
ago.
**Dan Hicks,
Director of Parks for the City of Moncton, has successfully applied for a grant
from Trail Care Canada for the City of Moncton to partner with Nature Moncton
for a habitat improvement project installing bird nest boxes on the Riverfront
Trail in Moncton.
The plan is
to erect approximately 20 Nest Boxes appropriately placed along the trail in
early April.
Nelson Poirier
Nature
Moncton
