Nature Moncton Nature News

Wednesday 9 October 2024

October 9 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

October 9, 2024

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

**Shannon Inman captured a nice spread wing photo of a fresh Gray Comma butterfly. This butterfly would appear to be from a recent brood and will overwinter as the adult employing its very effective biological antifreeze methods.

Shannon also photographed a grouping of Gem-studded Puffball mushrooms. These are relatively small mushrooms and are considered edibles.

Shannon’s camera eye was also attracted to some maple leaves giving off their fall performance.

**Thanks to Tony Thomas’ sharp eye, we can make a very interesting correction on the identification of the butterflies Leon Gagnon had visiting his Miscou Island cottage this past summer. They were originally incorrectly labelled as Black Swallowtail butterflies but are the much more restricted range Short-tailed Swallowtail butterflies.

The worldwide distribution of the Short-tailed Swallowtail butterfly is the area surrounding the Gulf of St. Lawrence that includes parts of New Brunswick, Québec, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and more recently, Maine.

It was an interesting scenario that Leon had a dozen of this species of butterfly stay around his yard for a week. It would have to be assumed that a lot of eggs were laid in that area and if this was the last brood of the season, there must be a lot of chrysalids left which could create an interesting scenario again next summer.

The photos are rerun in today’s edition correctly labelled.

**Andy Stultz, a crewmember on a Coast Guard vessel in the Northwest Territories, photographed a ptarmigan that landed on the ship for a rest. It is in its very cryptic snow-white winter plumage making a complete reversal from its summer brown plumage. Two species of ptarmigan are resident in the area Andy is in, the Rock Ptarmigan and the Willow Ptarmigan. Identifying the species from the photo would be challenging.

The chances of seeing a ptarmigan in New Brunswick are remote.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

PTARMIGAN. OCT 6, 2024. ANDY STULTZ

GRAY COMMA BUTTERFLY. OCT 8, 2024. SHANNON INMAN

SHORT-TAILED SWALLOWTAIL BUTERFLY. AUG 10, 2024. LEON GAGNON

SHORT-TAILED SWALLOWTAIL BUTTERFLIES. AUG 10, 2024. LEON GAGNON

GEM-STUDDED PUFFBALL MUSHROOM. OCT 8, 2024. SHANNON INMAN

MAPLE BLAZING FALL COLOURS. OCT 8, 2024. SHANNON INMAN

Tuesday 8 October 2024

October 8 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

October 8, 2024

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, as chair of the Presentations Committee for Nature Moncton, is looking for members who would be willing to give short 15-minute presentations after the break at our monthly meetings. These presentations can be on any topic related to nature -- something that you saw that was of interest, a collection of photographs from a place you visited, or just general photos that you particularly like and want to share. If you have something you would like to present, please contact Louise at nicholsl@eastlink.ca. Our next meeting is next Tuesday, October 15th.

**Maureen Girvan photographed a Western Conifer Seed Bug at Centennial Park on Monday. This is a very common ¾ inch bug seen this time of year, especially as it likes to join us in our homes to overwinter.

Another photo of the Western Conifer Seed Bug was featured yesterday with a description of the life and times of this bug. Scroll back to yesterday’s edition for more information.

**Andy Stultz, one of the crew aboard a Coast Guard vessel in the Northwest Territories, sends more photos of some of the interesting things they encounter.

The ship sailed past an area of oil shales (Smoking Hills) on the East Coast of Cape Bathurst that has been smoldering for many years. Check the link below that tells the story of this interesting phenomenon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoking_Hills

A Ptarmigan also landed on the ship which Andy will share soon.

**With mushroom appreciation season in full swing, it’s a chance to feature another choice edible.

Nelson Poirier and Larry Sherrard photographed a Hedgehog mushroom on Monday to show the underside arrangement resembling sharp teeth/spike-like which is a nice ID feature to look for along with the pale brown cap and no partial veil.

**The paragraph of text accompanying Leon Gagnon’s butterfly sightings on Miscou Island this past summer was not with yesterday’s edition until midmorning. If you missed it and want to read the text, scroll back to yesterday’s edition.

**Lynn Dube captured a photo of her grandson on a mission with a bug net. Get them while they’re young!!

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

WESTERN CONIFER SEED BUG. OCT 7, 2024. MAUREEN GIRVAN

HEDGEHOG MUSHROOM (UNDERSIDE). OCT 7, 2024. LARRY SHERRARD

HEDGEHOG MUSHROOM (UNDERSIDE). OCT 7, 2024. NELSON POIRIER

HEDGEHOG MUSHROOM (TOP VIEW). OCT 7, 2024. NELSON POIRIER

SMOKING HILLS IN CAPE BATHURST, NWT. OCT 7, 2024. ANDY STULTZ

SMOKING HILLS IN CAPE BATHURST, NWT (ARROWED). OCT 7, 2024. ANDY STULTZ

GRANDSON YOUNG NATURALIST ON A MISSION. OCTOBER, 2024. LYNN DUBE

Monday 7 October 2024

October 7 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

October 7, 2024

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

**John Inman got a real quick glimpse of a Yellow-breasted Chat in the back of a fruit tree in his Harvey yard before it went down into the shrubs as the two Sharp-shinned Hawks showed for their daily yard hunt.

(Editor’s note: this is a very interesting casual visitor to New Brunswick. It breeds over a large portion of the US and overwinters in Central America and the tip of Florida.

This large songbird was once considered a member of New World warblers, but in 2017, the American Ornithological Society moved it into its own family.

This 7 inch/18 cm bird has a long tail, big head, and heavy bill. It is very skulky, hiding in brambles and shrubs.

Nelson Poirier had a very interesting scenario with a Yellow-breasted Chat several years ago when one arrived at his feeder yard in late fall and stayed into winter until it was startled by activity in a neighbour’s yard and left. It promptly surfaced again in the nearby feeder yard of Rosemary McAuley and stayed there until March.)

**On Friday Brian Stone went to the Salisbury Wetlands ponds looking for the Pink-footed Goose seen and reported by Rhonda and Paul Langelaan earlier. A few hundred Canada Geese were present and with great difficulty, Brian was trying to pick out the goose at a distance with just binoculars. Brian was unsuccessful until fellow birder Carmella Melanson pointed out the goose for him through her scope. It's always greatly appreciated to have help like that. Brian then managed to get some distant photos of the goose as it never came any closer that day.

(Editor’s note: it sure is that time of year to be monitoring Canada goose flocks closely for that one goose that may be a rare one of great interest to birders.)

**Since the Sunday field trip was canceled, Brian Stone went out on his own to photograph some of the fall colours painting the trees in the Caledonia Mountain area. Between rain showers and dark clouds, Brian managed to get some usable photos to process and send for the blog. The colours are close to their peak, and if some sunny weather occurs later in the week it would be a good time to go out and get some extra special images.

**Leon Gagnon shares some butterfly photos he took around his Miscou Island cottage over the summer to remind us of those summer days.

Leon experienced an interesting scenario where a dozen Short-tailed Swallowtail butterflies stayed around his cottage for approximately a week nectaring on what appears to be blooming common milkweed.

He also enjoyed visits from White Admiral and Monarch butterflies over the season.

**The algal component of lichens is in sheer ecstasy at the moment with the moisture having them go brilliant green and photosensitizing.

Nelson Poirier noted a Lungwort lichen blazing its greenery but noted fruiting bodies (apothecia) that he had not noted before on this species.

Kendra Driscoll at the New Brunswick Museum pointed out this was uncommon but occurs.

**Nelson Poirier photographed some Honey mushrooms which are very abundant at the moment.

This is considered a choice edible mushroom and a few points make it relatively easy to recognize. The partial veil is ‘Elizabethan collar’ style and often a very faint blush of yellow can be seen on the top of the veil as a result of it catching the spore print of pale yellow. The cap is pale brown with a pebbly/scaly feature. This mushroom appears on wood at the base of usually deciduous trees, but not always.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton