Nature Moncton Nature
News
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**Ted Sears
in St. Martins had two monarch butterflies emerge from their chrysalis on
Friday, with another chrysalis in waiting. Ted’s photo shows the adults just
emerged, allowing their wings to fill with blood to be ready for flight, beside
the empty chrysalis.
The developing
chrysalis nearby isn't showing signs of turning dark yet, suggesting another
adult will emerge later this week.
It is
getting late for adults to file their flight plans for Mexico, but we wish them
“bon voyage”!
**John Inman
had a visit from two eastern wood-pewees on Friday. One bird had the
expected yellowish lower mandible, while the second one had an all-black beak
to suggest it may be a juvenile.
John also
had a hemlock looper moth pose for a photograph. This species has no
hesitation to fly in cooler conditions.
Shannon
Inman noted the choke cherry berries are now turning very dark. Their pin cherry
kin will hold their brilliant red.
Shannon also
photographed a two-striped grasshopper and a Carolina
grasshopper. The Carolina grasshopper may be very cryptic when perched but
flashes its striking dark underwing with a distinct yellow rim when launching
into flight. The two-striped grasshopper showed it is beautiful as a bird, just
a lot smaller!
**Brian
Coyle took a video on Friday of a mushroom we don't see very often while on his way to some trail cameras. That said, we are seeing a lot of mushrooms we don’t
often see this year, a great season with the damp
weather and cool nights.
If you look
closely as Brian turns the mushroom over, the stem is a brilliant blue colour.
It is easily identified by the very pungent odour of anise, peppermint, or
sweet grass.
Its
undersurface of sharp teeth is also obvious.
Nelson
identified it yesterday to suggest that it is called
Hydnellum suaveolens, often commonly called the sweetgrass tooth
mushroom or fragrant hydnellum.
**Barbara
Smith's good friend Gianna sent her this short film about a man who makes
beautiful and functional log hives for Britain's native bees. Matt Somerville's
bees are THRIVING and he does not treat them for varroa mites, nor does he give
them sugar. Yet they are in perfect health. Barbara found the video fascinating
and thought Nature Moncton's blog readers would too, and that perhaps some
would be inspired to embark on a similar bee conservation project here. Or at
least share the video with others who might be so inclined.
There is a
related video that shows how Mr. Somerville actually makes the hives, some 800
so far. It's incredibly heavy work but Barbara thinks Nature News readers will
agree that the hives are works of art and are effective at giving a leg up
to native honeybees. The Hive Architect, as Mr. Somerville has come to be
known, does not harvest the honey. His work is entirely about conservation and
strengthening the native bee population.
https://youtu.be/1h6K_cS0m_w?si=0CxppjN_hYdPHAr2
**On the
first day of September, Tuesday, Brian Stone joined Isabelle and Cathy Simon on
a trek in the woods at the end of Mapleton Rd. in Moncton. The forest floor
there was a kaleidoscope of different and colorful mushrooms.
Brian took many photos of many mushrooms,
including some very interesting coral species and others that he was unfamiliar
with. It seems to be a good year for the fungal branch of life, at least in
some areas. Also seen were several small frogs, including wood frogs, leopard
frogs, and one tiny spring peeper frog.
Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
