Nature Moncton Nature News

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, June 17, 2019 (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)

** John Massey comments that his resident COMMON RAVENS [Grand Corbeau] brought their 3 newly fledged young to his yard on Saturday. This is the first time he has seen newly fledged ravens for certain. John says that they flew quite well, but landing on the spruce branches will take a bit of practice. They also walked a bit wobbly with their legs wide apart, like army paratroopers boarding a plane with all their gear to provide an entertaining for 5 minutes.

** Earlier in the week, I came upon a young raven screaming to its parent so loudly that it could be heard for blocks. The parent was quietly seeming to suggest “it’s time that you went on your own, kid.” Turn up the volume and listen at the attached link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/xxh3q50vri06yzd/COMMON%20RAVEN%20FLEDGLING%20AND%20PARENT.%20JUNE%2C%202019.%20NELSON%20POIRIER.MOV?dl=0

Jane LeBlanc got photos of 2 dragonfly species in her St. Martins yard recently. Both were a challenging identification for us so Gilles Belliveau came to the rescue taking note of terminal appendages, structure, and wing cells to make suggestions as to their identity. Knowing Gilles’s thoroughness and looking at fine points, the tentative diagnosis of male AMERICAN EMERALD and female CRIMSON-RINGED WHITEFACE are very probably correct but hard to be certain from photographs.

** We had better enjoy PINK LADYSLIPPERS [Sabot de la Vierge] as long as we can. They will soon be history for another year. Aldo Dorio photographed two of these orchids in their prime, accompanied by blooming STARFLOWER [Trientale boréale].

Brian Stone photographed the LARGE JUMPING SPIDERS, genus Phidippus recently. These spiders get their name from the notable jump they can make while hunting prey. They are not web builders but can build retreats and can move very quickly. They are rarely in homes by choice. There are many species of jumping spiders. Two of their eyes are noticeably large which can be seen in some of Brian’s photos. It is the largest jumping spider Brian has ever seen at 13 mm.

Nelson Poirier, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nature Moncton