NATURE
MONCTON NATURE NEWS
April 30, 2025
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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respond by e-mail, please address your message to the information line
editor, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com .
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Louise Nichols at Nicholsl@eastlink.ca if
any errors are noted in wording or photo labelling.
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Proofreading
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To
view the live feed of the Peregrine Falcon nest cam on the summit of Assumption
Place in Moncton, go to:
**Susan Linkletter was heading for the
grocery store on Sunday to get something for supper with the family when she spotted
a turkey in the ditch by her house on the Scott Rd. near Salisbury. No, it did not end up as Sunday dinner!
(Editor’s note: It may be of note that there are more frequent recent reports of feral turkeys -- with the assumption they are domestic
escapees due to their location. Are they simply adapting to feral living, or
is climate change more in their favour, or a combination of both?)
**On its second visit to George Brun’s
Moncton backyard, a male northern cardinal gave the impression that
it's not quite an adult when you compare it to another dark red male he had
seen a few minutes earlier. The attached photo shows more red, but when it
landed on his apple tree, it looked like the feathers were orange. At first, he thought it was a female, but he got a photo to
clearly see it as a male.
Georges wonders if the small objects we are seeing in the peregrine falcon nest (arrowed) may be regurgitated pellets. Chances are that he is quite correct.
**Jane LeBlanc took a bike ride Tuesday
morning and found a merlin sitting in a tree near her St. Martins home.
She then saw a turkey vulture overhead, heard a red-tailed hawk, and was sure
she saw a northern harrier in a blueberry field, but it flew before she got a
photo.
Later, Jane walked to the river on her
property and found suspected ostrich fern fiddleheads emerging.
(Editor’s note: These fiddleheads show no
hairy/fuzzy surface, which makes them more suspect of ostrich fern than the emerging
fern photo in yesterday’s edition. The larger size is also suggestive.)
**Nelson Poirier went to spring clean out and
service a Nature Moncton swallow box on Monday to be surprised and
mystified by the contents. Photos show two views of the contents as they
appeared in the box and the third one with the contents placed flat on a plate.
Placement of this box was on a post shoreside of a river.
Nelson would appreciate any comments as to
what the contents may be from. They were semi-firm. One small beetle with black
elytra with red markings moved quickly out of the box, which may or may not be
significant.
**Barbara Smith has had damage appear with
a red maple tree in their yard and wondered what had caused it and what
could be done to save it. A consultation with Doug Hiltz at the Maritime
College of Forest Technology gave the diagnosis quoted below:
“We are seeing a type of
temperature injury called sunscald. Sunscald is caused by rapid
temperature fluctuations, usually on mild sunny days in the
winter. Sunlight heats the outer and inner bark, causing the inner bark to
become active and break its protective winter dormancy; then, when below-zero
temperatures return at night, the sudden drop kills the living tissues.
The dead inner elongated cankers (sunken, discolored areas), cracking, and
peeling of the bark. Damage almost always occurs on the southwest face of the
tree (most intense sunlight) and may not be visible immediately, and may
not even show until the following growth season. Thin-barked tree species, like
younger maples and cherries, are particularly susceptible as they do
not have a buildup of protective outer bark (which is made up of dead
cells anyway).”
(Editor’s note: I suspect many of us have
seen this lesion in trees and wondered what caused it. Doug answered that as
above and gave a detailed treatment strategy that can be forwarded to anyone
who may have experienced this problem. If he knew how to do it, the editor
would add it as a link, a cyber learning curve that will happen!)
Nelson Poirier.
Nature Moncton
