Nature Moncton Nature News: June 10 2017

NATURE MONCTON’S INFORMATION LINE – 10 June 2017 (Saturday)

Please advise editor at nelson@nb.sympatico.ca if any errors are noted in wording or photo labelling.

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Transcript by: Catherine Clements

Info Line #: 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)

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**Georges Brun reports Ovila Bourgeois helped a WOOD TURTLE [Tortue des bois] stay off Champlain Street on Friday morning. He placed it under the Acadian monument next to the A&W. Georges got some nice photos to show the ring structure on the scutes of the carapace, and the yellow and black design on the plastron. The orange feet and neck show well also; all three points to easily identify a Wood Turtle.

**Judy Marsh spotted her first FIREFLY [Luciole] of the season on Thursday evening, after our first very warm day of the season. They seem to be slow to start appearing, just like many of our other insect community.

**Oscar LeBlanc reports his group of 15 SWALLOW [Hirondelle] nest boxes in the Sainte-Marie-de-Kent area along the Bouctouche River are doing well. 13 boxes are occupied. A pair of EASTERN BLUEBIRDS [Merlebleu de l'Est] checked out one of the unoccupied boxes two weeks ago before the cold snap, but have not returned so far. It was the same box occupied by Bluebirds last year. Oscar comments some of the adult Swallows are now feeding young.

**Jamie Burris came across a VIRGINIA CTENUCHA MOTH [Cténuche de Virginie] caterpillar recently. The adult is sometimes referred to as the SMOKY MOTH, and is often seen day-flying in the summer. It overwinters in the larval caterpillar stage. It has red legs that help identify it from the variable YELLOW BEAR CATERPILLARS [Chenille de Pilosoma virginica], that do not show in the photo.

**Louise Nichols sends a photo of a Mushroom cluster growing through mulch in flower beds in her Sackville yard. It’s one of the Cup Fungi, most likely the COMMON BROWN CUP [Peziza repanda] that is often circular at the top of the cup, but these tend to be crowding each other. This Mushroom, being an ascomycete, shoots its spores from inside of cap. This Mushroom is not toxic, but not considered a choice edible.

**Brian Stone was in the Saint Andrews area on Friday. He took note of the HOUSE SPARROWS [Moineau domestique] there, and got a nice picture of a male. He also noticed a family catch a large STARFISH [Étoile de mer] of medium dinner-plate size, caught at a wharf. There are a few PINE SISKINS [Tarin des pins] coming regularly to his sister’s feeder yard in Hampton as well.

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton