Nature Moncton Nature News: April 21 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

April 21 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 both the editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com and the proofreader nicholsl@eastlink.ca if any errors are noted in wording or photo labelling.

For more information on Nature Moncton, check the website at www.naturemoncton.com .

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

**The Nature Moncton Riverfront Trail cleanup is happening this afternoon, Sunday, beginning at 2 PM with details below:

Earth Day Riverfront Cleanup

Sunday, April 21, from 2-4 pm

Meeting place: Moncton’s Riverfront trail at the Moncton Press Club, 160 Assumption Blvd.

Leader: Conservation Action Committee

A few Nature Moncton members were recently on Moncton’s Riverfront trail to clean out nest boxes and noticed a lot of garbage. So, we’re going to take action to help clean up the environment and habitat for trail users, marsh wildlife, and our beloved downtown Peregrine Falcons!

You are invited to a Riverfront cleanup on Sunday, April 21, from 2-4 pm. Please wear weather-appropriate clothing and footwear, your Nature Moncton name tag, and bring work gloves. This initiative is in conjunction with the City of Moncton’s Earth week cleanup. The City will provide garbage bags and non-latex gloves to wear over our work gloves.

All ages are welcome, Nature Moncton member or not.

**Norbert Dupuis installed a Nature Moncton nest box a couple of weeks ago. The next day he had a male Eastern Bluebird check it out and on Sunday, two visitors came by eating meal worms that he had purchased for the occasion.

Very rewarding!

**There were few reports of Merlins around birdfeeders this winter, so it would appear that many migrated southerly; however, from recent reports, it would appear they have returned in significant numbers.

Bob Blake noticed Mourning Dove feathers under their feeders Saturday morning and then later spotted a Merlin land on a feeder on a second surveillance mission.

**Georges Brun has heard from others who have seen critters surfacing in the Petitcodiac River.

He was able to get very distant observations of what they were talking about and by zeroing in on the photo, he was able to make out the sickle-shaped dorsal fin of a Harbour Porpoise.

This suggests there has to be a significant presence of forage fish in the river to attract Harbour Porpoise. Their brief time surfacing for air can make them hard to see/detect so chances are there are more Harbour Porpoises in the Petitcodiac River than we realize.

**Louise Nichols shares photos of small creatures she has encountered in the last couple of days. She found a caterpillar in the Tintamarre Wildlife Area that she could identify as the caterpillar of the Virginia Ctenucha Moth.

In their yard, in the flower beds, Louise photographed a Bristle Fly species, and a couple of small bees -- a Mining Bee and Sweat Bees She also took a picture of a Tri-coloured Bumblebee buried deep in a crocus flower. In their small pond in the back of the house, Louise noted a number of very tiny insects skimming across the water (no more than a couple of millimeters in length). BugGuide identified them as Veliidae, or Small Water Striders. Nice to have the small creatures active again after a long winter!

(Editor’s note: this variety of insects that Louise has taken the time to search out is exceedingly important to the resident wildlife community and to those arriving as they will provide forage for amphibians/reptiles, birds and so much more. Those ultra important bees will be transporting pollen to feed their young but they will also pollinate all the plant life to produce berries and seeds which later provides for the wildlife community.)

**Pat Gibbs continues to very much enjoy her yard Ring-necked Pheasant family that she is assuming will be expanding significantly soon with youngsters. Pat shares a few more photos of her patrons with a background of colourful cultivars.

**On Friday Brian and Annette Stone visited the Jemseg area on a turtle hunt with supplemental wildlife welcomed as it was noted. First noticed was the presence of newly arrived Ospreys perching and nest building at all the nesting platforms along the roadside and areas. An Eastern Phoebe and a White-breasted Nuthatch were busy doing their bird business at a rest stop and Eastern Comma Butterflies were out enjoying the warm sunlight.

While turtle hunting, several Leopard Frogs were seen out on the road sunning themselves and when Brian touched them he found them to be ice cold as if just being taken from a freezer. No wonder they were happy to be on the road getting warmed from the Sun above and the pavement below. Brian moved them to the edge of the roadways where they could continue to heat up and would have less chance of becoming flatter.

Brian's main target, the Painted Turtles, was out in large numbers and Brian spent several hours getting way too many photos. They were out sunning on logs and the edges of ponds and floating on the surface of the water to make for a variety of images that satisfied Brian's turtle photography needs ... for a while, anyway.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nature Moncton