Nature Moncton Nature News: July 31 2017

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, July 31, 2017 (Monday)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelson@nb.sympatico.ca
Transcript by: David Christie maryspt@mac.com
Info Line # 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)

** Dave Cannon checked the BALD EAGLE [Pygargue á tête blanche] nest at River View Cemetery, south of Hillsborough, on Saturday and saw two eaglets looking very much like they were about to join the eagle troop that is doing so well along the Petitcodiac River.

** Beth MacMillan shares a BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE [Mésange à tête noire] scenario. These chickadees are not known to routinely have two broods per season but do nest very early in the season. A pair used a nest box in her yard with the first chicks fledging on June 21. She cleaned the house, and within a few weeks the assumed same pair began using it a second time and they are feeding vocal nestlings at the moment. Beth suspects that they may fledge this week.

** There is a good number of MILKWEED [asclépiade] plants growing behind the Shoppers Drug Mart at the Vaughn Harvey Blvd. location, as well as between the chain link fence and Via Rail. Possibly most of this would be out of the City of Moncton's control. Georges Brun says he has seen more Monarch Butterflies there than he has ever seen and he hopes that both companies know that this is the food plant for MONARCH [Monarque] butterflies, and not just food for thought.

** Gordon Rattray shares some photos he took on Saturday between Albert Mines and Gray Brook Marsh. The ducklings seemed small for the time of year, and Gordon wondered about a second brood. The beautiful bluet DAMSELFLIES are among ones hard to identify from photos, and the CANADA DARNER [Aeschne du Canada] was caught in flight. It can be identified by the shape of the thoracic stripes. Note the green, grading to blue dorsally and the front strip resembling a map of Nova Scotia. The BULLHEAD-LILIES [Pied-de-chevalier] are at their best at the moment.

** Annette and Brian Stone and Carol Shea paid a visit to Johnson's Mills on Sunday, hoping to see a large congregation of sandpipers. They dropped by first at low tide when there were good numbers feeding on the flats, then went to the Sackville Waterfowl Park, where there were a few GREATER YELLOWLEGS with a LESSER YELLOWLEGS in right front of the photo to show a nice comparison, but returning to Johnson's Mills at high tide, the sandpipers had chosen some other site to roost and did not make that their roost site on Sunday.

However, as expected, Brian found several items to photograph; photos attached include an ARROWHEAD [Flèche d'eau] plant in bloom, a female GREAT SPANGLED FRITILLARY [Argynne cybèle] (note the dark-margined tip of the forewing that indicates a female), a BULLFROG [Ous-oua-ron] (note the dorsolateral line curving down around the tympanum), and some 'PEEPS' [bécasseaux] feeding at low tide at Johnson's Mills.

[Transcriber's note: Interesting that the difference between low tide and high tide at Johnson's Mills on Sunday was also noted at Mary's Point. Between 8:30 and 9:30 a.m., I could see about 10,000 shorebirds feeding on the portion of the flats that is visible from my house. When I went to the beach near high tide from 4:45 to 7:00 p.m., I saw only about 30 sandpipers making occasional flights along the beach. Most of the time there were none in sight. Birds may have roosted on the rocks or small beaches at the outer end of the point. -- David Christie.]

nelson@nb.sympatico.ca

Nelson Poirier,