Nature Moncton Nature News: July 4 2019

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, July 4, 2019 (Thursday)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Transcript by: Louise Nichols nicholsl@eastlink.ca

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** Jane LeBlanc shares some photos she took around her St. Martins home. One is of PITCHER PLANTS just forming their unique blooms. Another shows the enlarging red female cones of the TAMARACK TREE and a photo of an EBONY JEWELWING DAMSELFLY [Caloptéryx bistre]. The jewelwings are among our larger damselflies. The separate eyes of the damselfly on stalks shows nicely, as does the fluorescent green abdomen and totally dark wings of the Ebony Jewelwing, held upright damselfly-style when perched.

** Aldo Dorio got a photo of a HERMIT THRUSH [Grive solitaire] from a frontal view and rear view to show the rusty tail and distinct breast spotting.

** We usually see HORSE MUSHROOMS [L’Agaric des jachères] in late August and September. The recent cool wet weather has led to some being early summer opportunists. I found two large emergences on lawns along Vaughan Harvey Blvd. on Wednesday that promptly hit the pan. We find these very delicious edibles. They are not difficult to distinguish by their pink gills when freshly opened. Before they open, slicing them in half shows the developing pink gills. If wanting to be more certain of your identification, do a spore print which will be very dark brown to black. The pink gills go dark after a few days. They infest with maggots very quickly, emerging in this warmer weather, but the tunnels are easily seen. Some photos are attached to show the combo of the pink gills and distinct partial vale hanging like an apron half way up the stalk. They can get quite large – up to dinner plate size. Meadow Mushrooms are very similar, but smaller and not as strongly flavoured. Sometimes they grow in rings or lines. It’s always nice to see broad-leafed weeds in lawns while gathering wild mushrooms, indicating that they have not been treated with 24-D or related chemicals.

** I dropped by Paul Maillet’s place in Cold Branch on Wednesday. Between him and his neighbour, they had 20+ TREE SWALLOW [Hirondelle bicolore] boxes and all seemed to be filled. They are all too close according to the guide books and very low, but the swallows have paid no regard to that suggestion. Paul also has CLIFF SWALLOW [Hirondelle à front blanc] nests on the angular gable of his house and on a garage. He put up a small ledge for them on the garage which they took to, but the group on his house are too high for him to get to to place a ledge. The colony is getting larger every year, up to approximately 20 pairs now. His neighbour also has BARN SWALLOWS [Hirondelle rustique] nesting on a garage. It is one very lively spot. A pair of EASTERN BLUEBIRDS [Merlebleu de l'Est] tried to nest in one box, but the swallows unceremoniously turfed them out. I did see a pair of Eastern Bluebirds carrying food in Rogersville later, but could not find their nest box. Great to see the increased number of Eastern Bluebirds this season.

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton