Nature Moncton Nature
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**A big thank you to Roland Chiasson
for coming to Nature Moncton on Tuesday evening to give an excellent
presentation on crows and ravens, two species we often take for granted. Roland very clearly demonstrated how unique these two species are, and I suspect few in the capacity audience will not
think differently about crows and ravens after hearing Roland’s talk.
Roland pointed out the
unique intelligence of the species, their unique behaviors, how different they
actually are from each other, and so many things to watch for in observing the species.
The interactions between
the family units of each species will definitely be a factor we will all be
watching for.
Brian Stone taped this
presentation, which will be available soon for those who couldn't participate
in person. The link will be published in Nature News when it is available.
**Hudson and Greg Rogers
went on a walk last Saturday and saw a few interesting species of waterfowl. They saw three female hooded mergansers and a pair of wood ducks in
St. Anselme Park, as well as an odd-looking female mallard with a white belly,
which Hudson suspects might be due to genetics from a domestic duck. Later, the
two saw northern shovelers and many green-winged
teals on the riverfront trail.
**Jane LeBlanc in St.
Martins had her last two monarch butterflies hatch on Tuesday...numbers
20 and 21. One was female, one was male. It was a sunny, warm day, so hopefully
they can get strong and start heading south.
Jane LeBlanc leaves a stats report on her monarch butterfly rearing project. Of 21 that hatched, 11 were males and 10 were females. Also, the first hatch was on August 11th, and the last on October 20th.
(Editor’s note: It’s
October 21! Will this be the last photo of this beautiful creature to share
until next season? It would be so interesting if some of the new tags that
monitor their migration could be on board to see if they make it to their destination in Mexico.)
**Brian and Annette Stone
enjoyed a nice walk in Centennial Park in Moncton on Tuesday afternoon; the
weather was warm enough, the sunlight was perfect, and the walk was great as a
result.
In the main pond, a great
blue heron pretended to be a goose as it hung out in a crowd of Canada
geese, unsuccessfully trying to blend in. The heron flew up onto the bank of
the pond right where Brian was trying to photograph it, and Brian took
advantage of the situation and obliged the heron with a photo session.
Some fall colours were
still hanging on, and the oak leaves were particularly photogenic in the
bright light.
On the forest floor, a hermit thrush
foraged, and its photos showed some softness from the dim light under the
trees. Days like this will be fewer as the season progresses toward colder,
shorter days.
(Editor's note: With the exception of the American robin, the hermit thrush is usually the last thrush to leave us for the season.)
**James Hirtle captured
two nice photographs of a male northern flicker in Lunenburg, Nova
Scotia, nicely showing its black mustache.
(Editor’s note: this
well-dressed woodpecker species will be with us a while longer, but many will
soon have migration plans to head south. It is always a welcome winter addition
when a few stay with us for the winter to enjoy suet at birdfeeders.)
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
