Nature Moncton Nature News: July 8 2023

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

July 8, 2023

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Edited by Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

**Rheal Vienneau checked out his hotspot for Monarch Butterfly evidence in Salisbury Friday morning, and not one sighting of adults or eggs. The milkweed is starting to flower well.
Rheal hopes anyone will let him know if they hear of and/or see a first sighting.
Without important weather improvements, this does not bode well for Monarch Butterflies in our area this year. He hopes he is completely wrong!

**On her first walk Saturday morning, Barb Curlew found the ‘young’ birds were notable. Young sparrows and robins went scurrying away, and a young, RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH was exploring a tree...not seeming to notice her watching it. The rest of the day, the birds kept well hidden in the lush leaves of the bushes made all the more lush by all the rain and fog we have had.

**Leigh Eaton experienced some very active woodpecker presence from his home deck recently. Three Pileated Woodpeckers and 3 Northern Flickers were interacting over a period of 10 Minutes at one point. He frequently sees and hears both species from his back deck, which borders a mainly second-growth mixed forested area.

He also has a Hairy Woodpecker and a Downy Woodpecker.
They still very much prefer the Bird Pies from Sobeys. Leigh comments, “Too bad the European Starlings and Common Grackles are also great fans of this treat!”
Listen to the intense vocalization of the Pileated Woodpecker in the video link below:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rcf47kbrelev1go/IMG_8960.MOV?dl=0

**Louise Richard comments there has to be a good fish menu in Jones Lake as she notes some very active foraging from both Kingfisher and Osprey, both of which are fish specialists. It would also tend to indicate the presence of lots of small minnows for the Kingfisher and larger species for the Osprey.

** The Hay Island Boardwalk has been badly damaged by storms in recent years.

It has been completely redone, and Aldo Dorio sends photos of the finished work.

**Nelson Poirier adds a few moth species that are out enjoying the warm evenings, including the Black Zigzag Moth, the Maple Looper Moth, and the Polymorphic Pondweed Moth, which is a very small moth yet strikingly marked.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton