Editor & Proofreader

Editor: Nelson Poirier    Proofreader: Louise Nichols

Wednesday, 12 August 2026

August 12 2026

 

 

Nature Moncton Nature News

 

Clicking on the photos enlarges them for closer observation. Please note that clicking on any photo enlarges it full screen and then clicking on the black area on either side of the photo brings one right back to the main page.

 

 

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

 

 

**This week’s Nature Moncton Wednesday evening walk tonight, August 12, will take place at the Tucker Street Ducks Unlimited impoundment with all details below:

AUGUST 12 WEDNESDAY EVENING WALK

Date:  Wednesday, August 12, 2026, 6:30 PM

Location:  Tucker Street Lagoons, Upper Coverdale

Leaders:  Judy Cairns and Dale Pugh

Meeting place:  Tucker Street is located at approximately 1569 Coverdale Road - Route 112. Go to the very end of Tucker Street where there is ample parking space. 

Join us for a view of the Tucker Street Lagoons in Upper Coverdale. This walk begins with the descent of a long and steep hill that is the access road, but the trails around the compounds are flat and easy. Over 1.6 KM, we can expect to see some returning shorebirds and a variety of ducks.

Bug spray and protective clothing are recommended. Don’t forget to wear your name tag too! All are welcome, Nature Moncton members or not.

 

**Sue and Fred Richards were checking their milkweed patch for monarch butterfly caterpillars and saw a spined soldier bug consuming a caterpillar and got a photograph.

The caterpillar had been attacked and was almost lifeless, and the bug was trying to pull it somewhere or consume it there, not sure.

It made them glad to have three monarch butterfly caterpillars on milkweed branches protected in a screened cage.

(Editor’s note: The literature says that the spined soldier bug will eat a monarch butterfly caterpillar.  These generalist predatory stink bugs pierce the caterpillar with a sharp, straw-like mouthpart, injecting paralyzing venom, and drink its liquefied insides. They can be found hunting on milkweed plants where the caterpillar larvae are found.)

 

 


SPINED SOLDIER BUG (NYMPH) AUG. 11, 2026. FRED RICHARDS


SPINED SOLDIER BUG (NYMPH) AUG. 11, 2026. FRED RICHARDS




**Today, this afternoon beginning at 1:53 pm, there will be a partial eclipse of the Sun over Moncton (and most of Canada) that lasts for about 2 hours. To view it directly, eclipse glasses will be necessary. 


Brian


Partial Eclipse Information.jpg

 

Top of FormBottom of Formnelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, 11 August 2026

August 11 2026

 

 

Nature Moncton Nature News

 

Clicking on the photos enlarges them for closer observation. Please note that clicking on any photo enlarges it full screen and then clicking on the black area on either side of the photo brings one right back to the main page.

 

 

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

 

 

**This week’s Nature Moncton Wednesday evening walk on August 12 will take place at the Tucker Street Ducks Unlimited impoundment with all details below:

AUGUST 12 WEDNESDAY EVENING WALK

Date:  Wednesday, August 12, 2026, 6:30 PM

Location:  Tucker Street Lagoons, Upper Coverdale

Leaders:  Judy Cairns and Dale Pugh

Meeting place:  Tucker Street is located at approximately 1569 Coverdale Road - Route 112. Go to the very end of Tucker Street where there is ample parking space. 

Join us for a view of the Tucker Street Lagoons in Upper Coverdale. This walk begins with the descent of a long and steep hill that is the access road, but the trails around the compounds are flat and easy. Over 1.6 KM, we can expect to see some returning shorebirds and a variety of ducks.

Bug spray and protective clothing are recommended. Don’t forget to wear your name tag too! All are welcome, Nature Moncton members or not.





**Louise Nichols visited Johnson's Mills Monday morning just before and during high tide.  The count for the morning was 80,000 + birds with two big groups -- one at the far end of the beach and one close to the Interpretive Centre.  The group on the far end of the beach was very content to rest.  They stirred only a couple of times while Louise was there, once when a small plane flew overhead.  Shortly after Louise moved to the Interpretive Centre, a peregrine falcon did a flyover, sending the sandpiper group in the air, but the falcon did not succeed in a catch.

 

 


SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS AND PEREGRINE FALCON. AUG. 10, 2026. LOUISE NICHOLS





SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS. AUG. 10, 2026. LOUISE NICHOLS


SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS. AUG. 10, 2026. LOUISE NICHOLS

 


SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS. AUG. 10, 2026. LOUISE NICHOLS


**Don McAuley keeps seeing a group of ducks drop into Rabbit Brook off Kendra Street and Blue Heron Lane in Moncton, and he sends a video with the link below:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/3h1hf7z1ei8mauizz5udk/DUCKS.-AUG.-10-2026.-DON-MACAULAY.mov?rlkey=4tzd8uemappj3ouej6v1jyd0a&st=y1x9f5sm&dl=0

 

 

 **Brian Stone and Cathy Simon checked out the Sackville area on Saturday, and Brian sent a few photos that happened to be taken along the way. At Johnson's Mills, the large number of migrating sandpipers was a bit far out and a bit too spread out for great photos, but some were taken anyway. When Brian turned around to check behind him, he saw an immature peregrine falcon perched in the top of a stubby evergreen tree that was checking the menu spread out before it. 

 


PEREGRINE FALCON (IMMATURE). AUG. 08, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


SANDPIPERS. AUG. 08, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


SANDPIPERS. AUG. 08, 2026. BRIAN STONE 

At the Sackville Waterfowl Park, they saw several newly fledged northern yellow warblers not looking quite put together yet, and cedar waxwings posing on nest boxes the same way as the belted kingfishers and even a female American wigeon were doing. Further along at the Walker Rd trails, a lot of different types of fungus were noted, and on the edge of the reservoir, a 'fleet" of water strider nymphs were walking on the surface of the water just as well as their parents. Broad-leaved helleborine orchids were in flower, and many trilliums were present alongside the trail.



HELLEBORINE ORCHID. AUG. 08, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


CEDAR WAXWINGS. AUG. 08, 2026. BRIAN STONE


BELTED KINGFISHER. AUG. 08, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


AMERICAN WIGEON (FEMALE). AUG. 08, 2026. BRIAN STONE


WATER STRIDER NYMPHS. AUG. 08, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


PAINTED TRILLIUM. AUG. 08, 2026. BRIAN STONE


NORTHERN YELLOW WARBLER (FLEDGLING). AUG. 08, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


 

The next day at Wilson Marsh, Brian re-photographed some of the interesting dragonflies, including a male widow skimmer dragonfly, a male Halloween pennant dragonfly, and a band-winged meadowhawk dragonfly. Other new dragonfly species seen (very briefly) were one male blue dasher dragonfly and a couple of male eastern pondhawk dragonflies that were too active to be caught by the camera. An eastern kingbird was eating berries, and a ruby-throated hummingbird was draining the nectar from a patch of jewelweed. Another pink pond lily flower was also in bloom.

 


EASTERN KINGBIRD. AUG. 07, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


BAND-WINGED MEADOWHAWK DRAGONFLY. AUG. 08, 2026. BRIAN STONE


WIDOW SKIMMER DRAGONFLY (MALE). AUG. 08, 2026. BRIAN STONE 


TWELVE-SPOTTED SKIMMER DRAGONFLY (MALE). AUG. 08, 2026. BRIAN STONE


PINK POND LILY (NON NATIVE). AUG. 09, 2026. BRIAN STONE

Brian includes a photo from the week before of the nestling cedar waxwings seeming to be ready to fledge at any moment, and of course they did a few days later.



CEDAR WAXWING NESTLINGS. AUG. 01, 2026. BRIAN STONE


 

**Nelson Poirier joined the New Brunswick Botany Club on Saturday on the field trip to St. Leonard, New Brunswick, to see lots of rare botanical species.

A wingless, brightly coloured grasshopper caught their interest on one of the rare willows; it is commonly known as the wingless mountain grasshopper or northern wingless grasshopper (Booneacris glacialis), a species of spur-throated grasshopper that completely lacks wings as both a nymph and an adult. It is found in northeastern North America, including parts of Canada and the northeastern United States.

The complete lack of wings on the adults sets them apart from most other grasshopper species.

 

 


NORTHERN WINGLESS GRASSHOPPER (BOONEACRIS GRACIALIA). AUG 8, 2026. NELSON POIRIER

 

Top of FormBottom of Formnelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, 10 August 2026

August 10 2026

 

 

Nature Moncton Nature News

 

Clicking on the photos enlarges them for closer observation. Please note that clicking on any photo enlarges it full screen and then clicking on the black area on either side of the photo brings one right back to the main page.

 

 

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

 

 

**On Sunday, August 9th, a group of 9 dedicated people cleared a patch of Japanese Knotweed along the very busy Riverfront trail in Moncton, in collaboration with New Brunswick Invasive Species Council  (NBISC).

Clarissa Hoffman, with an assistant from NBISC, supplied the tools, gloves, and bags needed to do the cleanup.  The bags collected almost filled the small UHAUL van, in which Clarissa transported the cuttings to a landfill site where the contents will be dealt with according to the regulations for disposing of invasive species plants.  The 2-hour event took place under cloudy skies with very little breeze -- and no bugs, we were pleased to note.

This was the first event for Nature Moncton focusing on Japanese Knotweed, and it will likely take up to 3 years of aggressive action, 3 times each year, to totally eradicate this location of Japanese knotweed.  We hope we have a large group at the next event in this location which will be in early spring, as more hands make quick work.  We will advertise for help on Nature News, Facebook, and the website before the next action takes place.

Susan Richards sends a photo of what the site along the Riverfront Trail looks like now, after the cleanup of the Japanese knotweed on Sunday afternoon.  After many bags of cuttings and picking up later, the group could see the river and were proud of their accomplishments.  This is part of an ongoing action in this location to eliminate the plants, roots, and any part of this invasive species. 

The original Zoom presentation on Thursday night, August 6, by the New Brunswick Invasive Species Council with instructions on removal was recorded and will be posted on YouTube at some point; a link will be provided on Nature News.







THE RIVERFRONT TRAIL ( BEFORE JAPANESE KNOTWEED REMOVAL). AUG. 9, 2026. SUSAN RICHARDS


THE RIVERFRONT TRAIL(AN HOUR AND A HALF AFTER JAPANESE KNOTWEED REMOVAL). AUG. 9, 2026. SUSAN RICHARDS




 

**This week’s Nature Moncton Wednesday evening walk on August 12 will take place at the Tucker Street Ducks Unlimited impoundment with all details below:

AUGUST 12 WEDNESDAY EVENING WALK

Date:  Wednesday, August 12, 2026, 6:30 PM

Location:  Tucker Street Lagoons, Upper Coverdale

Leaders:  Judy Cairns and Dale Pugh

Meeting place:  Tucker Street is located at approximately 1569 Coverdale Road - Route 112. Go to the very end of Tucker Street where there is ample parking space. 

Join us for a view of the Tucker Street Lagoons in Upper Coverdale. This walk begins with the descent of a long and steep hill that is the access road, but the trails around the compounds are flat and easy. Over 1.6 KM, we can expect to see some returning shorebirds and a variety of ducks.

Bug spray and protective clothing are recommended. Don’t forget to wear your name tag too! All are welcome, Nature Moncton members or not.

 

 

Top of FormBottom of Formnelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

 

 

 

 

 


Sunday, 9 August 2026

August 9 2026

 

Nature Moncton Nature News

 

Clicking on the photos enlarges them for closer observation. Please note that clicking on any photo enlarges it full screen and then clicking on the black area on either side of the photo brings one right back to the main page.

 

 

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

 

 

 

**There is no report available at this point on the activities that took place in the past week between Nature Moncton and the New Brunswick Invasive Species Council.

 

 

**We recently published a report about a pair of northern mockingbirds creating quite a stir in a suburban Dieppe neighbourhood with their very loud territorial vocalizations as well as their diving at neighbourhood dogs. The nest was nearby in the midst of the neighbourhood.

Debbie McPherson is having the same thing happen at her Cassie Cape cottage with a northern mockingbird very loudly vocalizing and not at all impressed with her two cats. In this case, she is seeing only one, assuming the partner is on a nest nearby.

 

(Editor’s note: It is good to hear reports of northern mockingbird activity in the area. It would seem to be a few years since much activity has been reported.)



NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD. AUG 6, 2026. DEBBIE McPHERSON


 

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Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton