Nature Moncton Nature News: July 27 2023

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

July 27, 2023

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Edited by Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

**Brian Stone shares some photos from Nature Moncton's Wednesday Walk of July 26. The path along the dike behind the Beaubassin Research Station was mostly level and dry, and the temperature was cool with a strong wind. Nelson's Sparrows were heard (barely due to high winds) but not seen, and a male Northern Harrier was seen but not photographed.

An unexpected sighting was a large flock of Semipalmated Sandpipers flying in formation and landing on mudflats a distance away at the water's edge. This group of sandpipers numbered in the thousands and put on a nice display of synchronized flying for the participants. Not many other photos were taken, but a group of 4 Semipalmated Plovers flew overhead, a Goldenrod Leaf Beetle was noted on a plant, some Goose Tongue Greens (Seaside Plantain) were examined, and a 64% full waxing gibbous Moon did manage to get recorded.

**On Tuesday evening, John Inman was trying to get a photo of a gull across the Shepody River. When he cropped the photo and was looking at it on Wednesday morning, he noticed an Atlantic Sturgeon had come out of the water. The photo is at quite a distance, but the sturgeon species is clear, and comparing it to the gull, it is quite small and immature. The Atlantic Sturgeon is a very long-lived fish. This one may be small but could be possibly 7 or more years old. A second cropped photo shows the fish clearly jumping from the water.

John also noted 60 to 70 shorebirds on the other side of the river, but too far to identify.

John also had a young-of-the-year Brown-headed Cowbird visit his feeder yard on Wednesday.

**Yolande LeBlanc was pleased to have 2 juvenile Northern Cardinals arrive at her Memramcook feeding station on Wednesday. Yolande had a nest on her property last year, but it would appear they chose to nest nearby this year.

An area has been grass mowed, and seeds put out to provide a welcome mat.

**Christine Lever shares an experience she is having/had with a Carpenter Bee.

The photo of the round hole and the regurgitation of the wood was the nest of a carpenter bee. She built the nest last year and returned this year. She's a single female who chewed her perfectly round hole deep into the deck railing. Last year she was extremely busy building the nest, and this year she returned to use it. It only has one hole. Some carpenter bees will live in twos or threes, and they will have nests with several holes.

Christine watched last year, expecting her to make another hole to use as an exit, but she never did. This year she has already laid her eggs, and they have hatched. Inside the hole, there will be chambers off of the main tunnel. The photo of what Christine thought was regurgitated wood may be the discarded casings from her eggs. The bee pushes the casings out of the nest as the bees hatch.

She will hover near the nest if there's any activity near the nest. Once she makes sure all is safe, she'll enter her nest. Even when she's hovering, Christine can't get a photo of her as she's still moving too fast for her camera.

Carpenter Bees live about 2 years, and once the end of July rolls around, she will slow down and die just as her brood takes flight.

**Jane LeBlanc in St. Martins spent some time in her garden on Wednesday and noticed 2 Monarch Butterflies, as well as a White Admiral and a Great Spangled Fritillary. She also noticed a Ruby-throated Hummingbird nectaring at the Common Milkweed. It spent time chasing away the monarchs as well, but they always came back to the milkweed.

**Brian Stone got a nice photo of a Hummingbird Clearwing Moth that was not included in yesterday’s edition. This is a day-flying moth and is often confused at first glance with a hummingbird. It not only looks like a hummingbird but acts like one as well, which undoubtedly is a successful ploy against potential predators. It appears to be nectaring on one of its favourite targets, Spreading Dogbane.

** Nature NB is asking for participants to contribute to the International Monarch Monitoring Blitz to take place from July 28th to August 6th. People with milkweed or who are near a milkweed patch are asked to survey the patch sometime during this period and record the number of caterpillars/eggs/Monarch Butterflies seen. If it is not possible to do the survey during the blitz week, data will still be accepted throughout the rest of the summer. An information session on how to collect data (for those who need it) will be given online on July 31st from 12:00 PM to 12:30 PM. Those interested can register for this session at the following link: