Nature Moncton Nature News: June 7 2023

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

June 8, 2023

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Edited by Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

**The present weather conditions have made for few folks out photographing nature. Nelson Poirier shares a few photos from a visit to Black Beach near Lorneville that was part of the recent Festival of Nature.

While there, a small Grey Seal was hauled up on the beach. It appeared like it may be in trouble, but with a bit of encouragement, it swam off into the Bay but allowed for a few photographs before it did that.

It was a small seal, so likely was a young-of-the-year animal and was not particularly disturbed by human presence. Grey seals give birth in December/January. This animal, for some reason, frequently opened its jaws almost as if to be yawning. This was not an aggressive gesture. It did show nicely the dentition of this animal. The skin appeared rough, which may have been due to molting into adult pelage.

A few photos of the rock face at Black Beach are attached. They create a very calcitic environment which made for some very interesting botanical observations, which botany gurus Gart Bishop and Bruce Bagnall identified for a very captivated group.

A plant Nelson Poirier had a challenge identifying was quickly identified by Gart as Wild Chervil, a.k.a. Cow Parsley.

This plant does not seem to be at all common in the Moncton area but is found very abundantly along roadsides and trail edges in the Saint John area. It can be identified when in flower as one petal of the bloom is larger than all the rest, as the photo shows. A photo of the fern-like leaf structure is also shown.

This plant spreads by rhizomes and is extremely invasive. It is actually a good edible with a flavour of anise/licorice and has been used as a herb; however, foraging for it as an edible is not encouraged due to similarities to some of its toxic kin in the carrot family. It is a native of Europe.