Nature Moncton Nature
News
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** Many New Brunswick
naturalists and Nature Moncton members will fondly recall being
on outings with Catherine Johnson and sharing her enthusiasm.
It is with sadness and pleasant memories that we announce that Catherine Johnson has
passed.
**Maureen Girvan photographed a male ebony jewelwing damselfly while walking on the Tankville School Trail on Sunday, July 5.
**Leigh Eaton photographed
a small species of mayfly perched on his apartment balcony on Mountain
Road in Moncton on Sunday.
He was surprised by the
tiny size as seen in comparison to a standard paper clip.
(Editor’s note: we have
several species of mayflies in New Brunswick that vary in size considerably,
but all are essentially aquatic species that emerge from the water to go
on relatively short mating flights, then back to the water to lay eggs. They
may vary in size, but Leigh’s photo shows the standard profile of sailboat-like
wings, curved-up abdomen, and two tails. They can sometimes be seen in huge
numbers when on those mating flights.
Their immature stages are a
very significant food source for juvenile fish and usually an indication of
good water quality.)
**Daryl Doucet was able to
photograph what is suspected to be a two-striped grasshopper happily lying
in wait in a lily bloom for an unexpected small insect lunch to arrive. A second one is peeking over the top!
**On the pleasantly warm
day of Friday, Brian Stone checked out Highland Park and Wilson Marsh to see
what might be out and about in the simmering heat. At Highland Park, Brian
noticed the water levels in the ponds getting significantly low already. There
was not much bird life in the ponds beyond a dozen or more mallard ducks. He
checked out the eastern kingbird nest beside the bridge and found at
least three hungry chicks waiting to be fed. One of the parents soon arrived with a
less than satisfying snack for the youngsters while the other parent who was perched
nearby was displaying possible overheating symptoms with its mouth held open
and wings spread.
While Brian was watching
the ponds in Highland Park, an adult bald eagle flew in being chased and
harassed by blackbirds. The eagle seemed to just ignore the attentions of
the blackbirds and dropped down to the water level and picked up what might be
a small fish of some type. Sadly Brian's camera lost focus for just the few
frames of the eagle catching the fish which makes it very difficult to make out
any detail of the event. Brian scolded the camera as obviously it was the
camera's fault completely since Brian never makes mistakes!
At Wilson Marsh, Brian
didn't find much activity, probably due to the heat levels, but he did notice
that the pied-billed grebe eggs had hatched in one nest and he spent
some time trying to get a clear photo of the new arrivals. They were not too
active yet, though, and Brian had to be satisfied with obscured images as the
chicks did not go far but just left the nest to crawl up onto a parent's back
and hide under its feathers. The parent did not oblige by leaving the
protection of the branches either, so Brian left them to return another day
when they might get a little bolder and come out for a photo.
(Editor’s note: the pied-billed
grebe chick has to be one of the most colourful newborns out there, with Brian’s
photo giving it full justice! We often comment on newborn birds as something only
a mother could love. This species surely is an exception.)
Brian also noted a female blue dasher
dragonfly (maybe the same one he saw the week before?) at the
marsh, blue dashers not being common in the area yet.
**Brian Stone and Nelson
Poirier enjoyed a New Brunswick Botany Club visit to McPherson’s Cove Beach and
Dipper Creek on Saturday.
The flora diversity of McPherson’s
Cove Beach, which provides a comfortable home for this diversity despite the occasional
tumultuous Bay of Fundy salt waves and rocky shoreline, was an eye-opener.
A second site visit of the
day was to Dipper Creek, where they successfully searched for and photographed Van
Brunt’s Jacob’s-ladder, a rarity found in New
Brunswick. Recent extensive searches have found a few more sites in New
Brunswick.
The suspected hemlock borer beetle deserved a view/photograph.
Only a few photographs are
shared to prevent competition with a newspaper!
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
