Nature Moncton Nature News: June 1 2019

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, 1 June 2019 (Saturday)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Transcript by: Catherine Clements

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

On Friday, Mitch Doucet checked the Petitcodiac River from the Dieppe (Louis Street) entrance. There was hundreds of Tree Swallows, lots of Cliff and Barn Swallows as well 2 bigger birds that ended up being Black Terns.

In the woods there were a dozen Bobolinks and some good warblers like Blackpoll and Tennessee Warblers.

On Thursday Mitch joined Les Ami(e)s de la Nature at the Wilson marsh were Carmela Melanson and spotted a Canada warbler and as they turned around there was a Marsh Wren vocalizing and bouncing around them.

Great to get reports from Wilson marsh AKA Bell Marsh. Wilson Marsh is a newer name for this Ducks Unlimited impoundment and we will be using that name in future reports.

Jane LeBlanc provides the first dragonfly photo of the season. As Jane comments, it’s a documentary photo but she has seen any dragonflies this year yet and it seems to be late for them, but then, everything else is. It was around the freshwater pond in St. Martins.

I asked Gilles Belliveau if he had any thoughts on identification and was surely surprised to get his response that he said it was an easy one commenting “the colours on the abdomen are hard to make out due to the harsh light but that solid green thorax and slight bluish colour you can see on the abdomen are a dead giveaway for a Common Green Darner.” This darner migrates in from the south.

**Aldo Dorio got a photo of a BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER [Pluvier argenté] in full breeding plumage near the Neguac wharf on Friday. It may be travelling a bit late, but it looks quite ready for the breeding season ahead. Aldo also could not resist another photo of his yard EASTERN BLUEBIRD [Merlebleu de l'Est] at its nest hole, and a female RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD [Carouge à epaulettes] in the area as well.

**Louise Nichols is keeping a close eye on the ponds at her Aulac home, and found what appears to be a YELLOW-SPOTTED SALAMANDER [Salamandre maculée] egg with a nearly-emerged tadpole in the waiting.

**Bob Blake keeps weather stats from his Second North River home. I’m attaching a brief outline that Bob forwarded, comparing May of 2018 to May of 2019. The birds all seem to act accordingly with Bob’s record of a cool spring for 2019.

2018. We had 14 days of 3° to 9° and 14 days of 10° to 14° with 160 mms. of rain.

2019. We had 27 days of 3° to 9° and only 4 days of 10° to just 12° and 159 mms. of rain. Much colder this year.

**Brian Stone got some excellent close-up photos of a NORTHERN FLICKER [Pic flamboyant] in his Moncton yard. This is one of the birds that puzzles many new birders when they see this woodpecker probing about for insects, usually ants, in their yards. Brian also took a photo of a COMMON GRACKLE [Quiscale bronzé], nicely showing its iridescent head and neck area.

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton