Nature Moncton Nature
News
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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 post (share) nature observations/photos, contact the Nature News editor, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
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at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com, as well as proofreader nicholsl@eastlink.ca, if any errors are noted in wording or photo
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Proofreading courtesy of
Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca
** President Cathy Simon
reports:
Despite a very rainy
start, 15 enthusiastic participants came out for Nature Moncton’s snowshoe
outing in Centennial Park on Saturday — and by the end of the hike, the rain had slowed
down considerably! A big thank you to Nigel McLaughlin for being such an
excellent leader and guide to winter tree identification. Everyone learned a
lot along the trail, and the group showed off their new knowledge with almost
perfect scores on the tree ID quiz at the end. A few of us finished the
afternoon at Café Codiac, warming up, drying out, and flipping through some
tree ID books together. Rain and all, it was so much fun!
(Editor’s note: It may
have been a winter tree identification outing, but Nigel pointed out many
easily used identification features of common trees that we can use any time of
year. We tend to get to know lots of birds, butterflies, insects, flowers, etc.,
and not pay enough attention to the trees that contribute so much to the
wildlife scene.
Bear in mind that New
Brunswick is 85% forested with lots to appreciate, with the number of species
being so much less than those other wildlife species we may tend to concentrate
on.)
**The Manitoba
maple tree has become a modestly common maple species that has been
introduced to New Brunswick from Western Canada and has become established. It
is sometimes referred to as the rogue maple, as its foliage (leaves) are
pinnately compound; composed of 3-9 leaflets
on a central stock, looking more like ash foliage than maple. The Manitoba
maple is one of the few maples that produce seed flowers and pollen flowers on
separate trees. The samara produced by the seed flowers cling into winter,
which can be attractive fodder for some birds such as the pine grosbeak and
evening grosbeak.
Nelson
Poirier recently took note and photographed a Manitoba maple sporting its
winter clinging samara, indicating it to be a ‘female’ tree.
Nelson also
came across a flock of Bohemian waxwings enjoying the clinging fruit of
a crab apple tree as well as the fruit that had fallen, even though a bit of
snow removal was necessary to access them.
We have all
enjoyed the abundance of this nomadic species this winter; however, they will
soon be departing for their breeding grounds to the west of us.
Nelson Poirier
Nature
Moncton
