Nature Moncton Nature News: Oct 1 2018

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, Oct. 1, 2018 (Monday)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Transcript by: David Christie maryspt@mac.com

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

** A very interesting scenario shared by John Massey. A friend of the family is a teacher in Ste-Anne-de-Madawaska and has taken upon herself to teach her students about subjects not normally taught in classrooms today. She had her class of ten-year-olds raise chickens (poulets) from egg to adult, including studying the eggs so the students could see the embryo development at various stages. She also captured a female queen bumblebee (bourdon) and built a nest box for it to successfully hatch out ten young bees. This summer the class raised two MONARCH [Monarque] butterflies from egg to fly-away. She has become the most popular teacher at the school and I suspect feels very rewarded by the students’ appreciation, as a few eye-catching photos show.

John Massey also sends a photo of his most recent collection of HORSE MUSHROOMS [Boule de neige] for their culinary enjoyment.

** Debbie Batog had a surprising experience as she and her dog Ramsay were walking the shore of the Little Bouctouche River on Sunday. A large flock of CANADA GEESE [Bernache du Canada] started following them and when they turned to return, the flock turned to follow and did the same thing when they made another turn. When Debbie and Ramsay came up from the shore, the flock of geese started a terrific racket, almost sounding like they didn’t want them to leave. Debbie thought the dog would scare them off, but it seemed to do the very opposite.

** Richard DeBow sends an interesting mushroom for identification, one to become acquainted with as it frequently will pop up in groups on grassy lawns. It is called the COMMON LEPIOTA [Lépiote sp.]. It is actually an edible but not recommended as it is a look-alike to the deadly DESTROYING ANGEL [Amanite bisporigère]. The way to distinguish them is the lack of the very noticeable large enlarged base to the stalk in the Common Lepiota, and the partial veil, which when it has opened up, looks like a rolled-up stocking instead of the hanging-down-apron partial veil of the Destroying Angel. As coincidence would have it, while looking at Richard’s photos I glanced out my own window to see a dozen fresh Common Lepiotas on the lawn and could get photos to show the features to look for. It would be very unusual to find a Destroying Angel on a grassy lawn, as they favour woods habitat. The spore print of both is white, thus unhelpful in separating the two.

** Kevin Renton reports that they are also finding the wild mushroom crop abundant at the moment. Jean Renton gathered approximately seven pounds of HEDGEHOG MUSHROOMS [Hydne hérisson] at their Canaan Forks camp, while Kevin was able to get some HORSE MUSHROOMS [Agaric des jachères] near their Stilesville home and to gather about five pounds of BEAR’S-HEAD TOOTH [Hydne corail] mushroom in the local maple-sugar woods.

Brian also shares more photo highlights from the Sackville Waterfowl Park during Saturday’s Nature Moncton field trip. The AMERICAN COOT [Foulque d’Amérique] showed well, an AUTUMN MEADOWHAWK [Sympétrum tardif] dragonfly showing its brown legs, a BAND-WINGED MEADOWHAWK [Sympétrum semi-ambré] dragonfly nicely showing the signature heavy band of red on the inner portion of the hind wing, a PECTORAL SANDPIPER [Bécasseau à poitrine cendrée] that tended to tuck in between the legs of the gangly YELLOWLEGS [chevaliers], and WILSON’S SNIPE [Bécassine de Wilson] that nicely shows the huge bill and stubby body, a photo of the MEALY PIXIE CUP LICHEN (Cladonia chlorophaea), one of the Cladonia group, and the BRITISH SOLDIER [Cladonia soldats-britanniques] lichen sharing space.

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton