NATURE
MONCTON NATURE NEWS
July 31, 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
**It’s July 31. Does anyone know what
happened to the month of July!
**Jane LeBlanc in St. Martins had a female
monarch butterfly ovipositing on her milkweed plants on Wednesday. She was wondering if once the five chrysalids and four caterpillars in her cage were
done, she would be out of business. Hopefully now that is not the case. Jane
watched where she laid her eggs, and she's pretty sure she hit every milkweed
plant in her yard!
**On Wednesday, George Brun waited one hour before the great egret showed up, which was well worth the time. A
bonus because Selby Evans was surfing the bore and completed the run without a
wipeout!
On Wednesday, the egret acted very
differently from just hanging out with the gulls to putting on a show,
comfortably preening itself, and then flying off with the gulls when they chose
to relocate. It appears that the relationship is becoming more than just a
place to hang out together, and could be interesting to watch.
**Naturalists are naturally curious
about Mother Nature’s ways!
In a recent edition, Louise Nichols
shared photos of a fern ball, which is a common method of certain moths
and possibly other insects to roll up the tips of fern leaves into a nest-like
structure to provide protection and food to a developing egg, then larva, then
cocoon, then a flying adult to repeat the cycle. Louise has found several of
these on her property and opened one of them and photographed the contents to
find the pupal stage (cocoon), with that photo being shared today.
Some reading about this scenario
suggests it is quite common and does little harm to the fern.
**Nelson Poirier paid a visit to
Escuminac Point on Wednesday afternoon to experience the surprises that always
seem to present themselves on a visit to this unique part of New Brunswick. A
large portion of the point is now a Nature Conservancy-protected area, which is
the result of a large grant of land. The diversity of flora with bog land,
forest, and rugged coastline always has a different show to reveal, depending on
the time of year. The diversity of berries is impressive.
There seemed to be less bird activity
at the coastal point than expected but that can change with the day depending
upon tides.
An interesting sidebar occurred when
Nelson heard vocalization that sounded like black scoter a long distance
offshore, and he could make out the appearance of dark birdlike silhouettes. Some
long-distance documentary photos showed the group to be grey seals,
with only their heads visible above water!
Nelson includes a photo of mountain
holly with their fluorescent berries showing very prominently. Mountain
holly happens to be one of the few inedible berries in the area.
Usually, this area is teeming with dragonflies and butterflies; however, a cooler, cloudy afternoon seemed to shut off the
solar power these critters need.
Nelson Poirier.
Nature Moncton
