Nature Moncton Nature News: Oct 20 2018

Nature Moncton Information Line – 20 October, 2018 (Saturday)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Transcript by: Catherine Clements

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

**A last reminder: the Nature Moncton field trip to Caledonia Gorge Protected Natural Area is on for tomorrow, Sunday, October 21^st, leaving from the Petro-Can station on the Hillsborough Road across from Point Park at 9:00 a.m. A contact number to reach the group over the day is 866-2752.

**Yet more new northern winter arrivals. Jim Wilson comments they are having their first observations of BUFFLEHEAD [Petit Garrot] on Grand Manan this week. This eye-catching smallest member of the Goldeneye [Garrot] group breeds to the north of us, and will join us for its winter vacation, as well as to the south of us, with New Brunswick tending to be the north of its winter range.

**Aldo Dorio saw a photo of a lone BOHEMIAN WAXWING [Jaseur boréal] at Hay Island a few days ago, to make us wonder if it was a lone wanderer or the start of the advance guard. Looks like it may have been a scout, as Aldo spotted 25 Bohemian Waxwings at Hay Island on Friday. Peter Gadd also spotted Bohemian Waxwings in Miramichi on Saturday. Their attention seemed to be directed to the abundant WINTERBERRY HOLLY [Houx verticillé] crop at Hay Island; however, Aldo comments there’s no MOUNTAIN-ASH [Sorbier des oiseaux] crop there this year. He also got photos of the first advance guard of SNOW BUNTINGS [Plectrophane des neiges] and HORNED LARKS [Alouette hausse-col]. A big day for new arrivals at Hay Island.

**A choice edible mushroom that is easy to recognize that we can expect to potentially see lots of in the next few weeks is the SHAGGY MANE [Coprin chevelu]. When fresh, a common way to cook this mushroom is to slice it down the middle vertically, pat it as dry as you can with paper towel, and sauté. It can also be dried when fresh, and used in many food preparations. It does not take long after it emerges for the long cap to liquefy to a black liquid; however, the stalk remains firm. The stalk itself can be sliced lengthwise and again, sautéed or dried. It is very tasty when sautéed to almost crisp. A lady at Tuesday night’s mushroom session suggested a bit of caraway seed added makes it even more special. However; as always, whenever using wild mushrooms as food, make sure to convince yourself of its identity. One nice thing about the Shaggy Mane – it usually pops up in groups, very rarely singly.

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton