Nature Moncton Nature News: Sept 18 2016

** Norma Blois adds a very interesting scenario to the mention of LEAF-CUTTER BEES [Abeille coupeuse de feuilles] in a recent edition. Leaf-cutter Bees arrived at her third-floor patio and found the leaves of her pea plant just right to construct their nest cells. Norma found that they were quite aggressive with other insects and hummingbirds but were not aggressive towards people. Norma has no idea where the leaves were taken to build nest cells, but her home does border on a woods area. The bees still came around but had no interest in any other plants than the pea leaves.

** Susan Linkletter sent a photo of a BLACK AND YELLOW ARGIOPE (Argiope aurantia) spider in its web that very nicely shows the stabilimentum some orb-weaving spiders use as a spot to warn others, like birds, that the web is there and not to run into it to break it down. Susan also shared a photo of a brown morph RED-BELLIED SNAKE [Couleuvre à ventre rouge] and a bush laden with berries. The resolution is low in the berry photo but it does appear to be a BRISTLY SARSAPARILLA [Aralie hispide] that is producing clumps of blue berries at the moment.

** Jamie Burris got a nice photo of the “HARVEST MOON” on the night of September 16th; it shows features of the moon’s surface that, back in 1610, Galileo, with the limited optics of the time, took to be seas. That is the reason that today many of these features have names like Sea of Serenity, Sea of Tranquility, etc.

** Fred and Lynn Dubé photographed a bird on two occasions recently in the Pictou area of Nova Scotia. The photo needs interpretation. It appears to be a COMMON RAVEN [Grand Corbeau] lacking head feathers to suggest some sort of pathology. Any further comments would be appreciated. It does have a vulture look, but that beak and profile don’t match.

** Unfortunately, Louise Richard will be away on Tuesday night to bring her HEN-OF-THE-WOODS [Poule des bois] mushroom for “show and tell.” Louise fried it up in oil and butter, and froze portions for later use. A few photos show the process of getting it to the cooking pan, and what this species looks like when cut.

** Brian Stone recently got several nice photos of dragonflies and damselflies that are still enjoying the warmth, including the AUTUMN MEADOWHAWK [Sympétrum tardif] - note the brown legs; the LAKE DARNER [Aeschne porte-crosses], a very colourful large darner, but a bit more of a challenge to distinguish from other darners. One photo shows a Lake Darner with prey that appears to be a smaller dragonfly. Also included is the SAFFRON-WINGED MEADOWHAWK [Sympétrum rubigineux], showing the saffron colour of the leading edge of the wing and black legs, as well as a SPOTTED SPREADWING [Leste tardif] damselfly.

In a recent visit to the Sackville Waterfowl Park, among other shorebirds there, Brian also photographed a WILSON'S SNIPE [Bécassine de Wilson], resting with head tucked in. It’s a good time of the year to see Wilson’s Snipe at the waterfowl park, but sometimes they are hard to spot in the reeds.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton