NATURE
MONCTON NATURE NEWS
May 7, 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
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 and the proofreader
Louise Nichols at 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 Nichols nicholsl@eastlink.ca
To
view the live feed of the Peregrine Falcon nest cam on the summit of Assumption
Place in Moncton, go to:
**Heads-up for an event tomorrow night, Thursday.
Nature Moncton’s Apps Workshop on Zoom
🦅Date: Thursday,
May 8, from 7 – 8 PM
🦉Location: Zoom
🐦Leaders: Fred
Richards & Cathy Simon
This workshop will provide the opportunity to
learn how to use 3 apps that will enrich your future nature outings and
will equip you with the tools and knowledge to contribute to citizen science
programs.
Apps:
📱Google Lens, a product of Google, uses your cell camera or saved photos.
📱Merlin is an app for identifying birds
in the field.
📱eBird is an app for sharing your observations in a database.
⚠To get the most out
of this workshop, please download the Merlin and eBird apps onto your phone and
follow the prompts to create an account before the workshop.⚠ To use Google Lens, you will only need an internet
connection and a browser on your phone.
Participants are also encouraged to join us
for a walk at the Bell Street (Wilson’s) Marsh on Saturday, May 10, starting at 10 AM, where they can put their new skills to work. Saturday, May 10, is Global
Big Day, which is an annual global birding event where bird enthusiasts record
their bird sightings and contribute to scientific research through the eBird
platform.
🦆All are welcome,
Nature Moncton member or not.
**John Inman had a young male Baltimore
oriole arrive on Tuesday. The female put the run to him when he got near
the orange, so he went to the suet instead.
Henry the groundhog re-excavated under
the baby barn. It usually spends a couple of weeks there and moves off.
Shannon Inman headed home from Moncton down Pine
Glen Road and shortly had to slam on the brakes when a moose ran in front
of her. She had to pull over, rearrange her scattered groceries, and get
her breath.
**David Lilly took advantage of the arrival
of numerous osprey in the Jemseg area to get photographs of this welcome
raptor. He also photographed an adult male red-winged blackbird and a great
crested flycatcher.
(Editor’s note: The great crested flycatcher
is a bird we don’t often see in northeastern New Brunswick, but is more common
in southwestern New Brunswick and western Nova Scotia. We do occasionally see
the great crested flycatcher in migration, and occasionally some of them take
interest in nest boxes and breed in northeastern New Brunswick.)
**Brian Stone was birding in the Penobsquis
and McCully area on Monday when he noticed an interesting sight surrounding the Sun. There was a thin, translucent cloud layer obscuring the Sun, and in that
cloud layer's ice crystals, there were at least three prominent solar ice
halos. Brian's internet research did not give him the detailed description
that he wanted, but described it only as "odd radius ice halos". He
sent the photo to sky guru Curt Nason who confirmed the rarity of this type of
ice halo display, and he gave Brian some interesting details about the size and
shape of the ice crystals that cause it. Brian enjoys experiencing interesting
atmospheric phenomena and was very happy to see this display.
**Nelson Poirier took note of an attractive
cluster of red-belted polypore mushrooms that seemed to have wintered
quite happily and were in the process of recycling a dead tree to which they were
attached.
Nelson Poirier.
Nature Moncton
