Nature Moncton Nature News: July 31 2019

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, July 17, 2019 (Wednesday)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Transcript by: Judy Marsh marshj@nbnet.nb.ca

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

**Pam Watters and Phil Riebel have an excellent extensive hedge of SPREADING DOGBANE in their Miramichi yard. This prolific plant is spread by rhizomes and can produce large stands that gives off a sweet order and is a magnet for nectaring insects and pollen seeking bees. Phil captured some nice photos of a few recent patrons including GREAT SPANGLED FRITILLARY BUTTERFLY, WHITE ADMIRAL BUTTERFLY and Phil's camera was able to capture the clear wing venation of a HUMMINGBIRD CLEARWING MOTH that we usually never see, as the wings whir so fast.

**Gordon Rattray paid a visit to the new Interruption Centre at Mary's Point on Tuesday and found it a great new facility and recommends that folks pay a visit to experience it. On Gordon's rounds, in the past few days he noticed a fresh appearing LUNA MOTH, got a photo of the measured flight of a GREAT BLUE HERON [Grand Héron], a nice photo of what appears to be a young-of-the-year BELTED KINGFISHER [Martin-pêcheur d'Amérique] and a selection of dragonflies and damselflies enjoying the hot days.

**Ron Arsenault replied with a very plausible potential explanation of why the adult LONG-TAILED DUCK [Harelde kakawi] was seen at Escuminac wharf harbour on July 29. I'm attaching Ron's comments below

” Knowing that ducks, unlike most other species of birds, can fend for themselves quite easily without the ability to fly, providing they can make it to a suitable body of water, as evidenced by the synchronous moult of their flight feathers, I suspect that a wing injury may be the reason we see the occasional duck in late spring and summer that should be on their nesting grounds to the north of us. I also suspect that these birds will lose the urge to migrate if the delay is too long, even if they do recover. If they do not recover sufficiently, ice cover will be the next and often insurmountable challenge.

This is speculation only on my part as I have not seen any studies on this.”

**Brian Stone visited Highland Park in Salisbury on Tuesday to find dragonflies active. Two common ones we all could all can get to know and call by name are the DOT-TAILED WHITE FACE, with that conspicuous yellowish spot on abdominal segment 7 (S-7) and the FOUR-SPOTTED SKIMMER DRAGONFLY. A female RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD [Carouge à épaulettes] had a prize meal for nestlings or maybe herself at this point in the season.

**Fred Dube recently sent in a photo of the colourful medium sized moth, the SAINT LAWRENCE TIGER MOTH. Its hind wing flashes a yellow and black pattern. The GREAT TIGER MOTH is a close relative and is on the wing at the moment as well. One visited my moth sheet on Tuesday night to show its brilliant orange under wing marked with clean large dark spots.

**I managed to get several more inside reared MONARCH [Monarque] butterflies to the chrysalis stage but not near the number that hatched from the eggs originally. I still have a few steps to refine, but at least more will get a crack at heading to Mexico than last year, when I left them to develop naturally outside.

**I have sleuthed a lot of bogs, but have never come across NORTHERN YELLOW-EYED-GRASS before. It has a relatively small three petalled yellow bloom, a long slender stem and basal lanceolate leaves. It is not listed as uncommon, but was surprised to never have encountered it before. There were hundreds of plants in the small area, where it was growing.

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton