NATURE
MONCTON NATURE NEWS
October 12,
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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by e-mail, please address your message to the information line editor, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com .
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advise the editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
if any errors are noted in wording or photo labelling.
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Proofreading
courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca
**Jane
LeBlanc reports she had the juvenile yellow-bellied sapsucker back on Saturday,
as well as a small flock of purple finches.
(Editor’s
note: The purple finch in the photo appears to be foraging on the flower buds
of Jane’s witch hazel shrub.)
**Fred
Richards had a raccoon lift the lid off a tube bird feeder. A blue jay
appreciated the help to get to the booty but ended up trapped in the feeder.
Take a look at the results in the attached video link:
Dropbox\FredRichards\audio1939121129.m4a
**John
Inman had his expected company of a red-tailed hawk show up for an early
Thanksgiving dinner, but it was not happy that John did not put out something
when he fed the other birds. It sat on the feeder, looking down at its feeding
table. When John took out a meal of raw meat, it grabbed it right away. John
has had a red-tailed hawk following the same routine annually since February 2009, which is
beneficial as it helps reduce the number of other hawks.
John
was also able to photograph a special visitor, a clay- colored sparrow, that is always a treat. He also photographed a Merlin that was mantling
over prey.
**Isaac
Acker photographed a very cooperative green frog, wood frog, and an
American toad.
He
also photographed a bedstraw hawk-moth caterpillar. This is the time of
year when we are most apt to encounter this beautiful but sometimes variable
caterpillar. They are on the move, searching for appropriate sites to
overwinter as a cocoon.
**Shannon
Inman recently photographed a group of mushrooms which appear to be
different species, both with white spore prints. The dark spots showing are an
anomaly.
The non-toxic common
lepiota and poisonous destroying angel are unfortunate
look-alikes. I would favour common lepiota in the one photo due to the fact
that the partial veil presents itself like a rolled-up stocking, and there is
no obvious sac around the bulbous base, which is easily missed.
**Georges
Brun had a honeybee laden with pollen that flew in front of him while he was looking
downriver of the Petitcodiac River train trestle bridge over the
Petitcodiac River at Salisbury.
(Editor's
note: the bee appears to be a honeybee, and Glen Nichols advises they
could be actively gathering pollen this time of year if a flower source is
nearby their colony.)
A
large flock of Canada geese was in the eastern part of the sewage lagoon
downriver, consisting of over 200 birds.
Besides
the adult northern harrier, it is quite possible that two juveniles were
also with the parent. Georges saw them and they were much smaller, but
the camera sometimes has a mind of its own. A murder of five crows was
harassing the harriers.
**Lisa
Morris photographed a garter snake on the walking trail at Mill Creek in
Riverview.
Lisa
noted the snake was more red than the usual brown/grey colour, highlighting the
variability this species of snake can exhibit.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
