NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS
October 9, 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.
For more information on Nature Moncton, check the website at www.naturemoncton.com .
Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols
at nicholsl@eastlink.ca
**Louise Nichols did a shorebird
survey at Ann's Acres beach at low tide on Sunday afternoon. She found
groups of late-season birds -- mainly dunlin and semipalmated plovers,
with a number of sanderling. A handful of semipalmated sandpipers
were present, and Louise saw one black-bellied plover. The day was cloudy
and the light dim, but Louise includes a few photos.
**Mac Wilmot had a male pileated
woodpecker arrive in his Lower Coverdale yard on Wednesday to enjoy a mixed
fruit diet of grapes and Virginia creeper berries. It was very vocal about
finding the treats, seemingly letting other species know that this site had been taken.
**Brian Coyle managed to get out to
a trail camera before the rain on Wednesday and is going through the videos. The video at the link below is not a really good one, but it is clearly a hermit thrush
vocalizing.
**Phil Riebel shares a short field
note about some unusually large trees he has been finding around Eagle Lake
within the Loch Alva Protected Natural Area (approx. 45.545°N, −66.445°W). They
have a small camp there, and Phil has been exploring the surrounding forest.
Highlights (measurements at
breast height):
Yellow birch (Betula
alleghaniensis)
• Circumference: 88 in (223.5 cm) → estimated diameter 28.0 in (71.1 cm)
• Circumference: 96 in (243.8 cm) →
estimated diameter 30.6 in (77.6 cm)
- Red
spruce
• Circumference: 80 in (203.2 cm) → estimated diameter 25.5 in (64.7 cm)
• Circumference: 74 in (188.0 cm) → estimated diameter 23.6 in (59.8 cm)
It’s uncommon—at least in Phil’s
experience—to see birch and spruce reaching these sizes and ages in southern
New Brunswick.
Based on these measurements, they
would be roughly 300 years old apparently.
The stands around Eagle Lake feel
like pockets of old-growth with a closed canopy, coarse woody debris, and
multi-layered structure—habitat that’s increasingly rare and valuable here. Readers may appreciate a look at these trees and the unique forest
community they anchor.
As a bonus, Phil did hear a great horned owl
near the camp on two nights.
(Editor’s note: It’s almost hard to
believe when traveling the woods of New Brunswick today, that trees of this size were once common.)
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
