NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS
October 19, 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
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 was watching her many
blue jays on Saturday morning and saw a sharp-shinned hawk arrive
in the yard. It took turns chasing and being chased by the jays.
Jane was thrilled to see her first northern
cardinal of the season. It was a male, looking for a suet meal, but one of
many blue jays chased it off. Nice to see it back.
(Editor’s note: The high numbers of
blue jays monitoring birdfeeders at the moment seem to allow them to set their
own agenda, even with the smaller raptors. Their numbers will soon decrease
as the majority will migrate south, leaving a much lower overwintering
population.)
**Despite the cool fall weather,
David Cannon continues to net and release salamanders from their outdoor pool
in Irishtown. On Friday morning, David pulled 18 of them out and released
them into the woods. One was a blue-spotted salamander, and the rest
were red-backed salamanders. All seemed well despite their night spent in salt water.
**Isaac Acker shares a few
photographic observations from a quick trip down the south shore of Nova Scotia
(Shelburne County).
Isaac got an excellent photo of a male
surf scoter, which we can expect to see more of as the scoters start
arriving from their northern breeding grounds.
Isaac also got a documentary photo
of the small bicoloured striped sweat bee. The identification will have
to remain "suspected," but the colour combination would seem quite convincing.
The mushrooms are starting to pop up
with the final arrival of moisture. Isaac photographed a mushroom in its prime,
which appears to be the larch bolete, but more photographs from
different angles would be necessary to be more certain.
Isaac also photographed two periwinkle
species, something we don’t very often get photographs to comment upon.
In consultation with Fred Schuller,
Fred advises the two species photographed are the flat periwinkle and the
common periwinkle and I am going to quote below some interesting information Fred
shared:
“...of course, the big periwinkle
fact is that L. littorea were introduced to the Atlantic coast of North
America, possibly by rock ballast in the mid-19th century.... now the most
common marine snail along the North Atlantic coast. It has changed North
Atlantic intertidal ecosystems via grazing activities, altering the
distribution and abundance of algae on rocky shores and converting
soft-sediment habitats to hard substrates, as well as competitively displacing
native species."
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
