Nature Moncton Nature
News
Clicking
on the photos enlarges them for closer observation. Please note that clicking
on any photo enlarges it full screen and then clicking on the black area on
either side of the photo brings one right back to the main page.
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.
If you would like to share
observations/photos with Nature News, contact the editor, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Please advise the editor
at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com, as well as proofreader nicholsl@eastlink.ca, if any errors are noted in wording or photo
labelling.
Proofreading courtesy of
Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca
**Rheal
Vienneau does a very benevolent project each spring with a hospice/palliative
care unit, where he takes freshly hatched black swallowtail butterflies to the
patients that can rest on their hands (butterfly appropriately briefly cooled)
for a time, then release them out a window. It has been a very successful and
rewarding scenario each year.
For the
first year, Rheal has been unable to find black swallowtail butterfly adults,
caterpillars, or chrysalids despite thorough searches. He is asking anyone who
may be seeing any of the above, and anyone who may have patches of dill,
celery, carrots, or parsley, to let him know; he would be very happy to check
the patches.
You can
reach Rheal by phone at 506-962-1827 or by email at rjvienneau@gmail.com.
**Shannon Inman got nice photos of least sandpipers and a short-billed dowitcher in the Harvey area on Saturday.
Shannon also
photographed a chanterelle mushroom and a tomato bristle fly.
(Editor's
note: the tomato bristle fly is an interesting dude, as its larvae practice
endoparasitism, meaning they invade other insects, living inside them until they
consume their hosts from within.)
John Inman
comments that he has had few hummingbirds lately, but a couple arrived
on Saturday. He has not seen any males for a while, but one hummer he noticed
was starting to show a few red spots under its beak, suggesting it was an immature
male.
**Nelson
Poirier photographed a milkweed tussock moth on common milkweed at his
Miramichi camp on Thursday.
He was
surprised there was only one individual; usually, when they occur, they can be in
the hundreds, devouring milkweed foliage. The amount of frass (caterpillar
poop) on the leaves below looked as if it had eaten well!
He has yet to see an adult milkweed tussock moth.
**The recent
5 day interruption in publishing Nature News was due to an
angling/nature/comradeship adventure in the hinterland 30 km to the north of
Boistown with Jim Wilson, Paul Mansz, and Stan Knowles.
Mother
Nature was very generous, to say the least, and some photos are shared below.
The mushroom show was incredible, as it is in many places in New Brunswick this
fall.
The doe
white-tailed deer that visited us was delighted with Covered Bridge brand
sea salt potato chips!
Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
