Nature Moncton Nature News: April 14 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

December 21, 2023

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

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Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

The live feed to the Peregrine Falcon nest box camera can be accessed at https://www.zoodemagnetichillzoo.ca/nest-cam

**A heads up on the Nature Moncton meeting coming up on Tuesday night which will be a double-bill with all details at the end of this edition.

**Dale Pugh captured some pleasant photos while walking in the woods on Saturday. The Brown Creepers were singing, and was happy to spot one, as well as a Golden-crowned Kinglet with its colourful crown at full crest.

**Daryl Doucette suggests a potential reason why a Raven skull and the cervical vertebra could end up in a Saw-whet Owl nest box which has to be one possibility.

Daryl suggests the Raven could have stuck his head in there trying to steal a baby/adult, and when attempting to pull its head back out, feathers on the head that were streamlined flat on way in got backed up and jammed the bird in. Ensuing panic and struggling broke the neck and the weight of the body after decay and the body broke away, leaving the head and vertebra within the box.

**As he was coming back through the woods from his trail cameras, Brian Coyle stopped at a spot where he knew there would be Golden-crowned Kinglets to photograph. As he was attempting to get some photos of these fast-moving birds, an alarmed kinglet cooperated.

**Pat Gibbs shares a scenario she has been able to observe repeatedly with Ring-necked Pheasants that patronize her yard. Quoting Pat:

“It occurred to me that while many may occasionally see Ring-necked Pheasants strolling past, fewer numbers may have had the opportunity for closer observation. With a male and harem resident in my yard for the last 5 years, I have had the good fortune to observe the spring mating behaviour.

The lady strolls about trying to get a little energy snack and the gentleman keeps running in front of her, his ear tufts raised and his tail flared as he bobs his head up and down inches from her face trying to get her attention. She is more interested initially in her breakfast and keeps turning away to find another morsel until he skitters around to disturb her breakfast again with his "hey, look at me" head bobbing and tail and tuft flaring. This went on for about a good half hour until (I can imagine) she sighed and said, "ok, ok, let's get this over with" at which point they disappeared under the low-hanging evergreen branches.

Presumably, the deed was done because since then the gentleman has stopped bobbing and flaring and is now only crowing and flapping his wings in what I suppose is the pheasant equivalent of chest-beating.

Hopefully, that means there will be cute babies in a month or two. If so, I hope the ladies will not hide them too efficiently so that we may eventually get an aw-worthy view or two.

**On Saturday Brian Stone checked out the Salisbury (Government Rd.) lagoons and ponds in the pleasant +20° temperature. In the upper lagoons, only a few Ring-necked Ducks were present but there were a dozen more in the lower ponds. A pair of Killdeer were flying circles around the upper lagoons and were vocalizing constantly. A male Northern Cardinal was also calling while perched in a tall tree at the entrance to the lagoon area.

After scanning the upper lagoons for birds Brian noticed some frantic activity occurring on a small hill on the side of the road at the lagoon gates. A few hundred very small bees were swarming around close to the ground at a spot full of small holes in the dirt that the bees were crawling in and out of. Brian was mesmerized for many minutes watching the activity and made a short video that shows some of the bees flying about. If you have the option to change the resolution of the video, select the best resolution to be able to make out the bees. The bees have been identified as Unequal Cellophane Bees (Colletes inaequalis) by BugGuide.

(Editor’s comment: this species of bee Brian has photographed may be new to many of us. The literature suggests it is one of the earliest bees to emerge in the spring. It is suggested they are common in North America and very important pollinators.)

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/5num2e3kwmbev9pu6vui0/BEES.-APRIL-13-2024.-BRIAN-STONE.mp4?rlkey=zxkimy4fz786n7sbp25clant2&dl=0

Down in the lower ponds, Brian saw the expected Canada Geese, some Wood Ducks, and Common Mergansers flying up and down the river on the far side of the ponds, a Bald Eagle perching near a nest, and noted a large butterfly fly past that did not land for a photo.

Brian's thrill of the day was an encounter with a River Otter that followed him back and forth along a pond edge and kept him in view constantly until he was well past the pond. Such an interesting and intelligent animal.

** NATURE MONCTON APRIL MEETING

Topic: “Dragonflies and Damselflies of the Maritimes”

Tuesday, April 16, 2024, at 7:00 PM

Mapleton Park Rotary Lodge

Presenter: Denis Doucet

Did you know that

New Brunswick has over 140 species of dragonflies and damselflies, which is more than is found in all of Europe!
A species of dragonfly that occurs in New Brunswick and is widespread globally actually has the longest migration of any insect, even further than the Monarch butterfly.
The order Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) is one of the oldest groups of insects found on the planet. They have been around for more than 300 million years!

Come learn more about this fascinating and very important group of insects in a rich presentation using imagery, notes, quotes, and anecdotes. Denis Doucet, a naturalist and long-time Odonata enthusiast, will undoubtedly grant us an engaging, visually stunning, and thought-provoking talk.

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/86288656653?pwd=NWREdStjWGZxVU9sMnhhaEY1ajhYUT09

After the break, Brian Stone will give a presentation pointing out the many observations folks saw during the total solar eclipse that we have never seen before and will not be seeing again.

Brian will show a series of photos demonstrating these items so we can all get one last look to add to the memory bank of the special occasion. This portion will be recorded as well and available live during the meeting at the Mapleton Lodge and online virtually at the above link.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nature Moncton