Nature Moncton Nature News

Wednesday, 24 June 2026

June 24 2026

Nature Moncton Nature News

Clicking on the photos enlarges them for closer observation.

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

The camera on the peregrine falcon nest box on the summit of Assumption Place is now live. When checking the link to watch the activity, scroll down to the first large image, which shows what is happening in real time.

https://www.zoodemagnetichillzoo.ca/nest-cam

The peregrine falcon nest box nestlings are now moving out of the box and back in. Anita Cannon noticed there were only 2 nestlings in the box at 7:21 AM on Wednesday morning, but at 7:32 AM, the third had returned. At 8:05 AM, it made a second venture out!

PEREGRINE FALCON NEST. (EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING). JUNE 24, 2026. ANITA CANNON

PEREGRINE FALCON NEST. (LATER WEDNESDAY MORNING). JUNE 24, 2026. ANITA CANNON

PEREGRINE FALCON NEST. (LATER WEDNESDAY MORNING 2). JUNE 24, 2026. ANITA CANNON

**This week’s Nature Moncton Wednesday evening walk is postponed for tonight due to the weather prediction of thunder/lightning storm.

**Leigh Eaton shares a special moment with an Atlantic puffin that was posted on a UK site. It wasn’t taken in New Brunswick, but such a moment could happen here!

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1XTJp8QrjC/?mibextid=wwXIfr

**Brian Stone is visiting family in Hampton and took a bit of time out to take a few nature photos over the last few days. At the Hampton lagoons, Brian found it to be mostly empty, but there were two common goldeneye duck families there with chicks of different ages. There were only three of the older chicks, but about five of the younger ones. A great blue heron was waiting for food to come by close to the path, but decided to fly off after a photo was taken. Northern yellow warblers, red-eyed vireos, tree swallows, veerys, and a mallard duck family were also photographed along with a bee mimic beetle, common ringlet butterflies, a white admiral butterfly, a common whitetail dragonfly, an eastern forktail damselfly, a northern pearly eye butterfly, a silvery blue butterfly, and some white-tailed deer that were happy to walk along the trail beside the photographer.

As Brian was leaving the lagoon area, a large flock of mixed ducks flew in and landed on the second lagoon that included northern shovelers, American wigeons, mallards, and green-winged teals. Back at Brian's sister's place in Upham, he photographed a female red-winged blackbird, some American goldfinches, and an acrobatic chipmunk that slid right into the peanut feeder to collect the last nut for its larder.

**Nelson Poirier revisited a Miramichi burn-over on Sunday to find the black-backed woodpeckers are moving in. Only one male was spotted on the last visit a week ago, but several females were spotted on Monday. They are so cryptic against the black burnt snags (as one photograph shows) that their cadence and vocalization were the only way to locate them unless one flew. All the individuals that could be photographed appeared to be females.

The burn-over site had thousands of liverworts of the species common liverwort a.k.a. umbrella liverwort (Polymorpha marchantia), which was the first green growth noted a few weeks ago.

**Nelson Poirier had to stop and photograph the impressive lupine display along the remote side road in the Miramichi area on Monday.

The lupine is not native to New Brunswick but was introduced from Western North America and Europe. It liked what it found to the point that some consider it invasive. Independent of that, it certainly can put on an impressive display on a remote clay roadside!

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER (FEMALE). JUNE 23, 2026. NELSON POIRIER

CRYPTIC BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER (FEMALE). JUNE 23, 2026. NELSON POIRIER

VEERY. JUNE 23, 2026. BRIAN STONE

TREE SWALLOW. JUNE 23, 2026. BRIAN STONE

RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD (FEMALE). JUNE 23, 2026. BRIAN STONE

RED-EYED VIREO. JUNE 23, 2026. BRIAN STONE

NORTHERN YELLOW WARBLER (MALE). JUNE 23, 2026. BRIAN STONE

NORTHERN YELLOW WARBLER (FEMALE). JUNE 23, 2026. BRIAN STONE

MALLARD DUCK AND DUCKLINGS. JUNE 23, 2026. BRIAN STONE

GREAT BLUE HERON. JUNE 23, 2026. BRIAN STONE

COMMON GOLDENEYE DUCK. JUNE 23, 2026. BRIAN STONE

COMMON GOLDENEYE DUCK CHICKS. JUNE 23, 2026. BRIAN STONE

WOOD DUCK AND MALLARD DUCKS. JUNE 23, 2026. BRIAN STONE

CHIPMUNK. JUNE 23, 2026. BRIAN STONE

WHITE-TAILED DEER. JUNE 23, 2026. BRIAN STONE

SILVERY BLUE BUTTERFLY. JUNE 23, 2026. BRIAN STONE

NORTHERN PEARLY EYE BUTTERFLY. JUNE 23, 2026. BRIAN STONE

NORTHERN CRESCENT BUTTERFLY. JUNE 23, 2026. BRIAN STONE

COMMON RINGLET BUTTERFLY. JUNE 23, 2026. BRIAN STONE

WHITE ADMIRAL BUTTERFLY. JUNE 23, 2026. BRIAN STONE

BEE MIMIC BEETLE. JUNE 23, 2026. BRIAN STONE

EASTERN FORKTAIL DAMSELFLY. JUNE 23, 2026. BRIAN STONE

COMMON WHITETAIL DRAGONFLY. JUNE 23, 2026. BRIAN STONE

FORGET-ME-NOT. JUNE 23, 2026. BRIAN STONE

LUPINE DISPLAY. JUNE 23, 2026. NELSON POIRIER

Tuesday, 23 June 2026

June 23 2026

Nature Moncton Nature News

Clicking on the photos enlarges them for closer observation.

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

https://www.zoodemagnetichillzoo.ca/nest-cam

The natal down is disappearing rapidly to be replaced by beautiful juvenile plumage feathers, with a lot of wing exercise going on! There could be a lot happening over the next week.

**This week’s Nature Moncton Wednesday evening walk destination is below:

Date: June 24, 2026 at 6:30 PM
Where: Wilson Marsh, Dutchill entrance
Meeting place: Corner of Dutchill Drive and Marina Drive, Moncton

Leader: Fred Richards

Join us for a lovely walk on the marsh on June 24th! We will cover about 3.5 km, over an estimated 1.5 hours. The trail is rated easy to navigate, and the terrain is level, except for the first 100 metres, where we must descend from Dutchill Drive to the marsh. The marsh is now a “Treasured Wetland” designated by Ducks Unlimited and has signage highlighting some of the interesting things we might see. One small portion of the walk is along a wooded trail where many songbirds are expected. Bug spray and protective clothing are recommended. If you have one, don't forget to wear your Nature Moncton name tag too! All are welcome, Nature Moncton members or not.

**Yolande LeBlanc was pleased to welcome a new visitor to her Memramcook yard, a Baltimore checkerspot butterfly.

Yolande noted it was in the shade and very lethargic, which made her wonder if it may be newly emerged.

**Jamie Burris and his grandsons hit the woods Monday morning and found many scaber stalk mushrooms (Leccinum sp.) in various stages of growth. They kept a few for the pan and are dehydrating the rest. Jamie finds they have more flavour when dehydrated as opposed to fresh.

They found two king boletes, but they were way past the edible stage, as well as a few wine cap mushrooms!

(Editor’s note: the king bolete mushroom is considered by many as one of the choice wild edible mushrooms. It sometimes gets the name porcini in the marketplace.)

They also found an eastern newt in the red eft stage of development. A very enjoyable morning hike!

(Editor’s note: the red eft is the juvenile land stage of the eastern newt that will become aquatic at 2-3 years of age as an adult.)

**Brian Coyle is observing and photographing bush honeysuckle that is sporting its yellow blooms at the moment. He has also been noting blue flag Iris that is at its prime in wet areas at the moment.

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

BALTIMORE CHECKERSPOT BUTTERFLY. JUNE 22, 2026. YOLANDE LeBLANC

RED EFT ( EASTERN NEWT). JUN 22, 2026. OLIVER BEST

BOLETE (LECCINUM SP). JUN 22, 2026. OLIVER BEST

KING BOLETE. JUN 22, 2026. OLIVER BEST

BLUE FLAG IRIS. JUNE 22, 2026. BRIAN COYLE

BUSH HONEYSUCKLE. JUNE 22, 2026. BRIAN COYLE

Monday, 22 June 2026

June 22 2026

Nature Moncton Nature News

Clicking on the photos enlarges them for closer observation.

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

https://www.zoodemagnetichillzoo.ca/nest-cam

The natal down is rapidly disappearing, to be replaced by beautiful juvenile feathers!

**Another moth caught the eye and camera of Anita Cannon on Saturday.

Anita photographed a small red moth that fluttered past her in the garden to rest on a stone wall. It was less than a cm long and wide, with wings not fully open as the photo shows. Anita doesn’t remember seeing such a brightly coloured moth before and for very good reason!

This moth, the raspberry pyrausta moth (Pyrausta signatalis), which Anita correctly identified, may be common in some parts of North America. Still, reports of it in New Brunswick are “very limited". There have been reports of it in Ontario, Québec, and British Columbia. Its host plants are members of the mint family, such as bergamot and bee balm, both of which we do have in New Brunswick.

(Editor’s note: this moth may be small, but the brilliant red forewings should make it easy to spot. More photographic records would be very significant. It gets its common name from the brilliant raspberry colour, not its host plant.)

**It was a soggy and mosquito-filled morning hike for Brian Coyle’s trail camera check on Sunday, but worth it.

Brian has three videos to share: one of a cow moose, an American bittern which shows up on this camera every week, and a river otter. Brian suspects that this individual might be a kit of the year, when compared to the muskrat video that he sent previously from this same location. Check out the action at the links below:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/f2e8rdd6h8r90ynd0jkiz/AMERICAN-BITTERN.-JUNE-22-2026.-BRIAN-COYLE.MP4?rlkey=u2xg6nu22325b0y1qilhqzwxi&st=e7ndrrnp&dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ce11eno7249zculgxem18/MOOSE.-JUNE-22-2026.-BRIAN-COYLE.MP4?rlkey=e67klo0knq0tctoczea1j08zk&st=yulfh05n&dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/krrjhw3f4ir0kquo7hapz/OTTER.-JUNE-22-2026.-BRIAN-COYLE.MP4?rlkey=86le7uycaqh2c17dtqvh4acf8&st=cw4rszys&dl=

**Jonathan Sherrard and son Mason came across two white-tailed deer fawns while searching for a lost baseball near their north Fredericton home on Saturday. One was carefully concealed in a brush pile. Mother was no doubt nearby as they promptly departed.

**While in search and rescue training on September 20, one of the members found a modest sphinx moth, a.k.a. poplar sphinx in a gravel parking lot.

(Editor’s note: this large, heavily-bodied sphinx moth (35-50 mm) is flashing its brilliant hind wing eye spots to ward off potential predators.)

**Mountain maple and striped maple are at peak bloom at the moment. Nelson Poirier took photographs of blooming mountain maple on Sunday. These two maple species can sometimes be confused. Both are smaller understory trees/shrubs. The flowers of mountain maple are upright, whereas those of striped maple droop.

The leaves may be similar, yet different. Mountain maple leaves have coarse, jagged teeth, three shallow lobes, and a softer, downy (hairy) underside. The petiole of the leaf of mountain maple is red, whereas the petiole of the striped maple leaf is green. Striped maple leaves have fine, double teeth and often resemble a ‘goose track’ and feature a smoother, hairless texture (especially on the leaf underside). There are several other differentiating features, but these are a few to look for this time of year.

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

WHITE-TAILED DEER FAWN. JUNE 20, 2026. JONATHAN SHERRARD

RASPBERRY PYRAUSTA MOTH. JUNE 20, 2026. ANITA CANNON

MODEST SPHINX MOTH, AKA POPLAR SPHINX. JUNE 20, 2026. BRIAN COYLE

MOUNTAIN MAPLE. JUNE 21, 2026. NELSON POIRIER

Sunday, 21 June 2026

June 21 2026

Nature Moncton Nature News

Clicking on the photos enlarges them for closer observation.

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

https://www.zoodemagnetichillzoo.ca/nest-cam

**The contact email to register for the pelagic adventure off Grand Manan scheduled for August 15 in yesterday’s edition was incorrect for the first part of the day, and when corrected, still did not work for some.

The correct contact address is Cynthia Doucet at outandabout4nm@gmail.com.

**Jane LeBlanc had to go whale watching for work (such a chore!!) on Saturday and sends a few photos. A minke whale was spotted, as well as an Atlantic puffin, bald eagles, and gray seals.

(Editor’s note: Jane is a guide for cruise ship passengers that makes her do these chores that get shared with us!)

**Ted Sears often finds the bridge going into Poodiac (not far from Cassidy Lake) always provides excitement, and an eastern phoebe was cooperating as usual. There were two adults and three ready-to-fledge nestlings on a nest under the bridge.

Ted also photographed a chalk-fronted corporal dragonfly and a lancet clubtail dragonfly, both posing nicely.

**That time of year has arrived when we will start to see the nocturnal moths day perching, often right in our yards for us to enjoy.

Katie Girvan enjoyed observing and photographing the stunning colours of the rosy maple moth, one of the smaller of our colourful silk moth group. Katie also photographed the pale beauty moth. Both of Katie’s specimens are at their prime and have probably just emerged from pupation.

**About five or six years ago, Nelson Poirier sent Jim Johnson in Scotch settlement two handcrafted clay cliff swallow nests, which he mounted on the peak of two garages. It was a little late in the year, so there was very little interest in them then. Even for the next two years, the cliff swallows would check them out, but that was all. Last year, one was occupied, but the other one was not. This year, they took to both of them right from the start and even added a little mud to the opening of one. They started coming to Jim’s buildings about 10 years ago. Jim has no idea why, but they certainly are welcome. There are five pairs so far, and they are very active, as there seem to be a lot of bugs this year.

(Editor’s note: approximately 10 years ago, these clay cliff swallow nests were available to purchase but then went off the market. Brian Dalzell had successfully used them in Grand Manan. Nelson Poirier had one unused nest, which Roger LeBlanc talked a neighbour who did pottery into copying. She made 25 of the clay nests, which we gave out to several people who already had cliff swallows nesting naturally. The nests are very durable and still up, with some being used regularly and some not.)

**Suzanne Rousseau recently sent a photo (reattached today) of a 9:30 PM red sky light show that we had to get some consultations on.

Curt Nason supplied an excellent commentary that anyone should refer to when they see something similar. I am quoting Curt’s explanation below:

“Suzanne was looking southward around 9:30 from near Bouctouche, where sunset was at 9:14 Thursday and at azimuth 306 degrees. Therefore, the centre of a rainbow would be at azimuth 126 and the right-side red arc at 168, close to due south. Near sunset, the shorter wavelength rainbow colours get scattered away, leaving the red. I see hints of yellow and orange in the photo, probably just before they disappear. I have seen a red rainbow before, but not like this, so I checked Wikipedia and it explains the scattered red. We see only the corner of the rainbow due to that being the only area with raindrops catching sunlight at the time."

(Editor’s note: if Curt Nason has not seen a scenario like this, it must be very uncommon, as Curt has his eye on the sky as much as anybody in New Brunswick!)

Below is further explanation found online:

"A monochrome or red rainbow is an optical and meteorological phenomenon and a rare variation of the more commonly seen multicolored rainbow. Its formation process is identical to that of a normal rainbow (namely the reflection/refraction of light in water droplets), the difference being that a monochrome rainbow requires the sun to be close to the horizon; i.e., near sunrise or sunset. The low angle of the sun results in a longer distance for its light to travel through the atmosphere, causing shorter wavelengths of light, such as blue, green and yellow, to be scattered and leaving primarily red, hence the name "monochrome rainbow".^[1] In the lower light environment where the phenomenon most often forms, a monochrome rainbow can leave a highly dramatic effect.^{[2][3]"

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

Also: "}Occasionally, a shower may happen at sunrise or sunset, where the shorter wavelengths like blue and green have been scattered and essentially removed from the spectrum. Further scattering may occur due to the rain, and the result can be rare and dramatic.”