NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS
March 18, 2024
Nature Moncton members as well as
any naturalist in New Brunswick or beyond are invited to share their photos and
descriptions of recent nature sightings to build a fresh (almost) daily edition
of Nature News
To respond by e-mail, please address
your message to the information line editor, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com .
Please advise the editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com if any errors are noted in wording or photo
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For more information on Nature Moncton, check the website at www.naturemoncton.com .
Proofreading
courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca
**A double bill Nature Moncton March
meeting is on for tomorrow night Tuesday, March 19. All details below:
The first portion will be an excellent refresher on
the amphibians about to join us sooner than we realize. The write-up for the
first session is below and the presentation will be virtual:
MARCH MONTHLY MEETING PRESENTATION
Topic: Amphibians and Turtles in New Brunswick
Tuesday, March 19, 2024 at 7:00 PM
Mapleton Park Rotary Lodge
Presenter: Shaylyn Wallace
Shaylyn Wallace has lots of
experience with amphibians and turtles.
She completed a BSc in Environment and Natural Resources at UNB in 2017,
focusing her 4th-year project on the Hyla Park Nature Preserve,
specifically on Gray Treefrog Surveys.
In 2020, she completed her MSc, which included research on the impacts
of agriculture on Wood Turtles.
Shaylyn’s presentation for Nature
Moncton will help you learn about amphibian and turtle species in New Brunswick
and how to identify them. She will go
through the species we have in the province, as well as look-a-like
species. She will demonstrate what they
sound like, which habitat types you can find them in, and what you can do to
help these semi-aquatic creatures.
Don’t miss this chance to find out
more about these fascinating critters that live in our woods and wetlands.
This will be an in-person
presentation at the Rotary Lodge with a Zoom link for those who want to join in
from home.
All are welcome, Nature Moncton
member or not.
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89214168888?pwd=bEIvZzlieXFUbGZTVUhiV0pJVWdJQT09
After the break, join us for "Tick Tock." Nelson Poirier will give an important presentation (in-person at the Rotary Lodge) on the increasing risk of the Black-legged Tick in New Brunswick. He will show us how to distinguish it from other non-problem ticks, what to do if bitten by one, and how to prevent that from happening in the first place. He will also talk about some very useful new techniques that have been developed to help us with prevention, identification, and treatment. Nelson will have some preserved specimens and removal instruments on hand to demonstrate.
**No photos, but John and Shannon Inman spotted a few small groups of shorebirds going downriver today. Shannon will try and locate them today.
John comments he doesn’t recall so many Song Sparrows going through in the past.
**Barbara Smith and her
husband walked a couple of trails at Mapleton Park on Saturday and suddenly
felt themselves being observed. A few feet off the trail, they spotted a Red Squirrel, sitting perfectly still
on a dead stump, his face framed perfectly by twigs. They assumed it was sizing
them up, wondering whether it should make the effort to approach them for a
handout.
They also saw some
spectacularly large holes in various tree trunks, one deep enough to
swallow Barb's entire hand. Assumedly Pileated Woodpeckers have been hard at
work.
(Editor’s note:
Mapleton Park has become a great place to observe woodpeckers close-up as they
are undoubtedly very accustomed to human traffic.)
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
