Nature Moncton Nature News: May 4 2015

** Brian Stone was sure able to put his duck workshop skills to work on Sunday, right in the Irishtown Nature Park with a BLACK SCOTER [Macreuse noire] male and female, male and female RED-BREASTED MERGANSER [Harle huppé], MALLARD [Canard colvert] duck male showing the characteristic curly tail feathers specific to the Mallard. He also noted BELTED KINGFISHER [Martin-pêcheur d'Amérique] and OSPREY [Balbuzard pêcheur] at Irishtown Nature Park. There must be an adequate supply of fish in the lake there as some of these species forage specifically on fish.

Brian also captured an excellent photo of a Gray Comma Butterfly (suspected) out enjoying the sun at the Irishtown Nature Park on Sunday and in a snowbank. He was able to get under and over views which can be a challenge in the Comma

** Louise and Glen Nichols heard WOOD FROGS [Grenouille des bois] on Sunday night in a Sackville pond and a few SPRING PEEPERS [Rainette crucifère] were heard in the distance.

** Susan Richards also heard WOOD FROGS [Grenouille des bois] on Sunday night in her yard pond at Taylor Village. Susan also got a documentary photo of a PALM WARBLER [Paruline à couronne rousse] and TREE SWALLOWS [Hirondelle bicolore] going right to their Taylor Village nest boxes.

Anne Marsch got photos of early bees to some bursting spring cultivated flowers. One photo shows some worker domestic honey bees while the other shows what we suspect to be the the so called Mining Bee (Andrenidae) which is a solitary bee that only appears in the early spring to mid summer.

Louise Nichols got some nice photos of some singing Swamp Sparrows at the Sackville Waterfowl Park on Sunday. They appeared to have just arrived there. It’s a great time to see this sparrow that gets so difficult to see when nesting begins.

** Louise and Maurice Richard had TREE SWALLOWS [Hirondelle bicolore] arrive and immediately take to a nest box at their Acadieville cabin on Sunday. The had just cleaned out the box, and from the appearance of some of the scats inside, it was used by another critter over the winter.

** Another YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER [Paruline à croupion jaune] to suet this spring. Claude and Judy Léger had a bright male come to their suet block on Sunday. Lois McGibbon got a photo and Lois also spotted a NORTHERN FLICKER [Pic flamboyant] checking out a nice-looking nest hole.

** Jean-Paul LeBlanc reports the Bouctouche SANDHILL CRANE [Grue du Canada] continues to be around Golf Bouctouche and in the area of the Michaud Farm vegetable stand.

** Clarence Cormier had a sudden arrival of 10 WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS [Bruant à gorge blanche] at his Grande-Digue yard on Sunday, to join an impressive array of regulars that have ben streaming in.

** While at the Saint-Louis Marsh in Dieppe on Saturday I saw the small, bright orange-winged INFANT MOTH [Géomètre printanier?] (Archiearis infans) flying among birch trees. This small to medium-sized moth is expected to be on the wing at this time of year. It flies very fast and is very difficult to catch, but its bright wing colour is readily spotted when there’s no foliage on the trees. I saw another one on Sunday afternoon in Miramichi.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton