Oct 13 2016

** Louise Richard captured a special photo of a PITCHER PLANT on Wednesday with its "pitchers" overflowing with water collected after the recent heavy rainfall.

** Anna Tucker visited the Sackville Waterfowl Park on Tuesday to note an AUTUMN MEADOWHAWK DRAGONFLY,  AMERICAN WIGEON [Canard d'Amérique] and shorebirds, being predominantly Yellowlegs.

** Aldo Dorio submits a photo of a BALD-FACED HORNET'S nest at Hay Island which are now very visible with the leaves falling that were so camouflaged earlier in the season as they grew in size. With the recent frosts possibly most of the wasps have gone to wasp heaven, with only the queens overwintering to start a nest again next spring. Aldo also mentions the abundant Winterberry Holly crop at Hay Island this year. Some of the shrubs there are surprisingly large.

** Louise Nichols stopped by the Tantramar marsh on Wednesday and shares photo observations of PECTORAL SANDPIPERS [Bécasseau à poitrine cendrée], a very nice duo of photos of a SWAMP SPARROW [Bruant des marais], and also noted Northern Harriers and Red-tailed Hawks. Louise went to the Sackville Waterfowl Park on Tuesday. There were lots of Yellowlegs present, and a NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD [Moqueur polyglotte] was a special surprise.  

** Brian Stone and I stopped by the Tantramar Marsh briefly as well, just as Louise was leaving. Some distant Sandpipers foraging in the mud of a creek had us trying to identify them for certain. The photos turned out to be LEAST SANDPIPERS [Bécasseau minuscule] and Gilles Belliveau felt the same. Gilles feels that the darker bird, (two of them), is a Least Sandpiper that is almost in non-breeding plumage. One SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER was also with them

The large number of Northern Harriers was awesome, to note the three plumages of male, female, and juvenile. The second most populous hawk, while we were there, was the RED-TAILED HAWK [Buse à queue rousse]. It was very special to have one land and have its lunch on a hay bale near enough to observe it closely as a juvenile. We noted what we suspected to be four or five Red-tailed Hawks. It surely shows the variety of life on that marsh where two observation parties could see different things in the same few hours.

** The mushroom connoisseur group seems to be swelling with the productive season. Kevin Renton reports he enjoyed a nice, fresh Bear's Head Tooth Mushroom for breakfast. This sometimes nice sized mushroom is a shelf style mushroom, looking like an icicle formation often growing at shoulder height on a tree at this time of year and is an excellent edible when fresh.

We had a mystery donor drop off a few dozen Shaggy Mane Mushrooms on our doorstep Wednesday morning which were promptly sauteed and disappeared quickly. Still looking for the donor to say thanks! The Shaggy Mane is an easily identified mushroom that appears at this time of year on lawns and green spaces and is a delicious edible, but must be used fresh before they deteriorate.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton

AMERICAN WIGEON.OCT 11, 2016.ANNA TUCKER

AUTUMN MEADOWHAWK DRAGONFLY.OCT 11, 2016.ANNA TUCKER

BALD-FACED HORNETS NEST. OCT 12, 2016.ALDO DORIO

LEAST SANDPIPERS. OCT. 12, 2016. BRIAN STONE

LEAST SANDPIPERS AND ONE SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER. OCT. 12, 2016. BRIAN STONE

LEAST SANDPIPERS.OCT 12, 2016.NELSON POIRIER (2)

LEAST SANDPIPERS AND ONE SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER (CENTER).OCT 12, 2016.NELSON POIRIER (2)

NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD. LOUISE NICHOLS. OCT. 11, 2016

PECTORAL SANDPIPERS (a). LOUISE NICHOLS. OCT. 12, 2016

PECTORAL SANDPIPER (a). LOUISE NICHOLS. OCT. 12, 2016

PITCHER PLANT.OCT 12, 2016.LOUISE RICHARD

RED-TAILED HAWK 01. OCT. 12, 2016. BRIAN STONE

RED-TAILED HAWK 01. OCT. 12, 2016. BRIAN STONE

RED-TAILED HAWK 01. OCT. 12, 2016. BRIAN STONE

RED-TAILED HAWK 01. OCT. 12, 2016. BRIAN STONE

SACKVILLE WATERFOWL PARK.OCT 11, 2016.ANNA TUCKER

SWAMP SPARROW (a). LOUISE NICHOLS. OCT. 12, 2016

SWAMP SPARROW (a). LOUISE NICHOLS. OCT. 12, 2016

WINTERBERRY HOLLY. OCT 12, 2016.ALDO DORIO

YELLOWLEGS 01. OCT. 12, 2016. BRIAN STONE

YELLOWLEGS 01. OCT. 12, 2016. BRIAN STONE

Oct 12 2016

**Jules Cormier leaves some observations from his Memramcook area recently.  He comments he cannot recall seeing so many COMMON GRACKLES. The flocks are noticeably large and in no rush to move on. There are 4-5 HOUSE SPARROWS at a neighbours, a sparrow species that he has not seen in the area for some years. 

Jules released a NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL recently that go caught in between windows in his garden house.  It did not appear injured.  

There is a BALD EAGLE’S nest behind the golf course at the Memramcook Institute.  The young are flying but the parents are still bringing them food. 

Jules has noted a flock of approximately 20 EASTERN BLUEBIRDS moving about the Memramcook area, which seems to happen every year about this time.  He also comments he had noted more BROAD-WINGED HAWKS this year than he is used to seeing. 

**It's that time of year when a few YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOOS seem to always show up somewhere in NB. Aldo Dorio got some documentary photos of one at Hay Island on Tuesday that appears not to be particularly anxious to come out for a photo.   

 

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton

YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO.OCT 10, 2016.ALDO DORIO.

YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO.OCT 10, 2016.ALDO DORIO.

Oct 11 2016

** Mike Britton got two nice photos showing SANDERLINGS [Bécasseau sanderling] with their habit of chasing the waves. This is very typical Sanderling behavior.

** Mark Macaulay came across a semicircle of large mushrooms on a lawn in Sussex on Monday afternoon. I often hesitate to call a mushroom without a spore print but I am fairly confident that they are the delicious HORSE MUSHROOMS [Agaricus arvensis] as Mark's photos are excellent, showing the pinkish gills, no significantly enlarged base to the mushroom stalk, a pale blush of yellow on the top of some of them, growing in a semicircle, the lawn habitat, and there happens to be an excellent fruiting of this species on at the moment. The spore print of the Horse Mushroom is a very dark brown to black in colour. We have stored a few dozen packages of them by sauteing them in Becel and freezing them in airtight packages using a vacuum packaging food saver.

** John Foster visited a market when in Beijing recently and took note of how folks brought live crabs for sale and how they would take them home in their shopping bags without any surprises when one reaches for them. He watched a young man at the market tying them up. John felt they appeared to be our invasive Green Crab, which they could well be. I understand that some peoples do use them as food.

** I was at the Neguac wharf on Saturday and noted approximately fifty NORTHERN GANNETS [Fou de Bassan] in a feeding frenzy, diving for what I expect would be either Mackerel or Atlantic Herring. Whatever species of fish it was it was moving in a fairly straight line and not far offshore.

** There have been some questions if registration is necessary for the guided Magnetic Hill Zoo visit this coming Saturday. Registration is not necessary. Just be at the Magnetic Hill Zoo parking lot at 10:00 am, this Saturday morning, Oct. 15. The write up is attached again, and a reminder will be repeated on Friday.

Nature Moncton visit to Magnetic Hill Zoo

Saturday, October 15, 2016

Meet at 10:00 AM

The philosophy of zoos has changed considerably over the years. Now very few animals in zoos are taken from the wild, but instead they are bred in captivity, and many species endangered in the wild and bred this way are released back into their natural habitat to bolster numbers.

On Saturday, October 15, Nature Moncton members will be given a special opportunity to see the animals at the zoo and some behind-the-scenes activities in active progress. This trip will be led by Bruce Dougan, General Manager of the Magnetic Hill zoo.

Many of us may not be aware that the Magnetic Hill Zoo, here on our doorsteps, is one of the more recognized zoos in Canada for its programs and displays.

Meet at 10 AM at the Magnetic Hill zoo parking lot on Saturday, October 15. Family and friends are welcome.

Adult    (18+)                                        $11                              

Senior/Youth  (12-17) (60+)           $10

Child    (4-11)                                      $8

Toddlers (0-3)                                    free

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton

CRABS FOR SALE IN BEIJING MARKET.SEPT 2016.JOHN FOSTER

HORSE MUSHROOM.Oct 10, 2016. MARC MACAULAY. 

HORSE MUSHROOM.Oct 10, 2016. MARC MACAULAY. 

HORSE MUSHROOM.Oct 10, 2016. MARC MACAULAY. 

SANDERLINGS OCT. 7, 2016. MICHAEL BRITTON.

SANDERLINGS OCT. 7, 2016. MICHAEL BRITTON.

Oct 9 2016

**  John Massey got a nice frontal photo of a RED-THROATED LOON [Plongeon catmarin] at Cape Tormentine on Saturday, nicely showing a remnant of the red throat from its breeding plumage.

 

**  The zoo tour is coming up next Saturday, Oct. 15, and another special trip the following Saturday, Oct. 22, to see the fall colours and do some birding at the Mapleton Acadian Forest Trail in Elgin. It has received a lot of attention recently and the Nature Trust of New Brunswick has stepped in to help save this unique section of old-growth Acadian Forest.

 

Fall Birding and Tour of the Mapleton Acadian Forest Trail

            Fall has arrived and with it some very special outdoor experiences.  One of the most spectacular is surely the appearance of autumn colors, which occurs with the passage of deciduous trees to dormancy.  On Saturday October 22^nd, Nature Moncton is offering a chance to experience the beauty of autumn with a double-pronged activity lead by Roger Leblanc.  We will assemble at the Moncton Coliseum parking lot at 8:30 am.  After consolidating vehicles, we will proceed to do some birding (a given with Roger) in promising areas on route to Elgin.  The exact itinerary for this first part of the outing will be adjusted in the context of what has been seen between Moncton and Elgin in the days before the outing and where Roger thinks we might find interesting birds, but the Salisbury region would seem like a probable destination.  We will then head to the village of Elgin just South of Petitcodiac off of route 1.  After having our lunch (pack all you need as apparently the very nice country store in Elgin has closed) Matt Steeves, a member of the Elgin Eco Association, will meet us there.  Matt will explain the ins and outs of the preservation of a mature forest stand near Elgin that this organization has managed to secure. 

            The Mapleton Acadian Forest trail is an interpretive nature trail constructed and maintained by the Elgin Eco Association.  The trail provides an opportunity to learn about the mature Acadian Forest and how it responds to a variety of human disturbances.  The trail features interpretive signs, and it crosses a wide variety of forest types and conditions.  Matt will bring us to the trail and from there we will proceed to hike it for a couple of hours, all the time exploring what might be found along it bird-wise, but also looking at trees, plants and mushrooms and whatever else we can find.  The trail is of medium difficulty but do expect some good inclines and think of appropriate clothes and footwear.  If you choose to participate in only the hike, you can do that too by joining us at around noon in the parking lot of the old general store in Elgin. (Exact civic address is forthcoming).

            So come join us for some fall birding and a nice hike in the glorious autumn colors of a mature Acadian forest.

 

 

 

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca 

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

RED-THROATED LOON.OCT 8, 2016.JOHN MASSEY