Nature Moncton Nature News: Oct 13 2016

** Louise Richard captured a special photo of a PITCHER PLANT on Wednesday with its "pitchers" overflowing with water collected after the recent heavy rainfall.

** Anna Tucker visited the Sackville Waterfowl Park on Tuesday to note an AUTUMN MEADOWHAWK DRAGONFLY, AMERICAN WIGEON [Canard d'Amérique] and shorebirds, being predominantly Yellowlegs.

** Aldo Dorio submits a photo of a BALD-FACED HORNET'S nest at Hay Island which are now very visible with the leaves falling that were so camouflaged earlier in the season as they grew in size. With the recent frosts possibly most of the wasps have gone to wasp heaven, with only the queens overwintering to start a nest again next spring. Aldo also mentions the abundant Winterberry Holly crop at Hay Island this year. Some of the shrubs there are surprisingly large.

** Louise Nichols stopped by the Tantramar marsh on Wednesday and shares photo observations of PECTORAL SANDPIPERS [Bécasseau à poitrine cendrée], a very nice duo of photos of a SWAMP SPARROW [Bruant des marais], and also noted Northern Harriers and Red-tailed Hawks. Louise went to the Sackville Waterfowl Park on Tuesday. There were lots of Yellowlegs present, and a NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD [Moqueur polyglotte] was a special surprise.

** Brian Stone and I stopped by the Tantramar Marsh briefly as well, just as Louise was leaving. Some distant Sandpipers foraging in the mud of a creek had us trying to identify them for certain. The photos turned out to be LEAST SANDPIPERS [Bécasseau minuscule] and Gilles Belliveau felt the same. Gilles feels that the darker bird, (two of them), is a Least Sandpiper that is almost in non-breeding plumage. One SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER was also with them

The large number of Northern Harriers was awesome, to note the three plumages of male, female, and juvenile. The second most populous hawk, while we were there, was the RED-TAILED HAWK [Buse à queue rousse]. It was very special to have one land and have its lunch on a hay bale near enough to observe it closely as a juvenile. We noted what we suspected to be four or five Red-tailed Hawks. It surely shows the variety of life on that marsh where two observation parties could see different things in the same few hours.

** The mushroom connoisseur group seems to be swelling with the productive season. Kevin Renton reports he enjoyed a nice, fresh Bear's Head Tooth Mushroom for breakfast. This sometimes nice sized mushroom is a shelf style mushroom, looking like an icicle formation often growing at shoulder height on a tree at this time of year and is an excellent edible when fresh.

We had a mystery donor drop off a few dozen Shaggy Mane Mushrooms on our doorstep Wednesday morning which were promptly sauteed and disappeared quickly. Still looking for the donor to say thanks! The Shaggy Mane is an easily identified mushroom that appears at this time of year on lawns and green spaces and is a delicious edible, but must be used fresh before they deteriorate.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca