Nature Moncton Nature News: Sept 25 2016

** Louise Nicholls visited the Port Elgin area, around the lagoon, and was able to spot 2 BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHERS [Gobemoucheron gris-bleu], a real bonus. She got nice photos. The gnatcatcher is only a four and a quarter inch bird. Note the sharp eye-ring and the long tail with white side feathers. Louise says there were the expected ducks at the lagoon, as well as approximately 70 BONAPARTE'S GULLS [Mouette de Bonaparte].

She then went to Ann’s Acres, near Tormentine, to do her regular shorebird count. She only saw 7 shorebirds, but they were of a surprising 5 different species, including LESSER YELLOWLEGS [Petit Chevalier], 2 SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS [Pluvier semipalmé] and 2 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS [Pluvier argenté]. One photo of a Black-bellied Plover is shown, as Louise was trying to see what it was preying on, that appeared like an earthworm. A photo of a DUNLIN [Bécasseau variable] nicely shows the droop downward at the end of the bill and a WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER [Bécasseau à croupion blanc] photo shows the white superciliary line above the eye and the long primary projection of this species.

** Brittany Crossman was able to capture photos of a COYOTE [Coyote] on Sep. 18. This is a mammal that is difficult to get such cooperative photos of. I’m adding all four, as they are so good.

** Brian Stone submits some photos from Saturday. A series of three photos nicely suggest the ALCOHOL INKY-CAP [Coprin noir d’encre] mushroom showing how they grow as a clump in photo A, and in B how the edges of the cap start to darken after a day, and photo C shows the crowded gills. This is common on lawns at the moment and is quite edible, as long as there is no consumption of alcoholic beverages for approximately a day afterwards, as it contains coprine which gives an unpleasant reaction with alcohol. Brian’s sample is a few days old, as the gills are nearly white when freshly emerged.

Brian also captured some of our beautiful FALL COLOURS, as well as two types of spider web, an orb web made by one of the ORB WEAVER [araignée orbitèle] species and one appearing to be made by one of the FUNNEL WEAVER [agélénidés] species.

** I spotted a pair of WHIMBRELS [Courlis corlieu] on the muddy shoreline of Long Marsh Creek, near Cape Enrage on Saturday afternoon and was able to get a few distant photos to show the long, decurved bill, bold striping on the head and the dark eye-line. A SPOTTED SANDPIPER [Chevalier grivelé] in juvenile or basic plumage was with them to compare the 17.5-inch Whimbrel to the 7.5-inch Spotted Sandpiper. When I’m lucky enough to see Whimbrels, they are usually in open fields of blueberries or crowberries, not on a muddy shoreline.

** It’s that time of year, when three critters in Mother Nature’s community forage for large, fat beetle grubs, especially of JUNE BEETLES [hanneton]. The STRIPED SKUNK [Mouffette rayée] can dig shallow holes with their sharp claws, the STAR-NOSED MOLE [Condylure étoilé] leaves mounds of earth tailings as they head below frost level for the winter, would no doubt enjoy those grubs en route. The AMERICAN CROW [Corneille d'Amérique] seems to create the most ground disturbance by lifting up sod with their beak to create quite a disturbance that sometimes looks like a surprisingly large area has been rototilled. I have noted the mole-hills recently on lawns which can be easily spread out with a rake. I spotted Crows at four different sites on Thursday, tossing sod in the air and foraging for the grubs. They surely do it with gusto and leave quite a mess in a landscaped area. I got some video of them in action, which was not easy, as there was always one crow overhead that seemed to warn the foragers that someone was watching. I’ll show that video at Nature Moncton's October meeting.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton