Nature Moncton Nature News: Aug 9 2020

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, Aug 8, 2020 (SUNDAY)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

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

**Sybil Wentzell got a photo of an Atlantic Sturgeon that got washed up on the rocks near the Harvey Dam on Saturday. Sybil reports that fishermen saw it swimming in the area below the dam for three days before it was found beached on the rocks. The specimen Sybil photographed was approximately 3 ½ feet in length, so immature. The life history of these fish is an amazing one. It takes a very long time to mature and reproduce. At one time they were fished commercially in the Bay of Fundy and shipped by rail car to Boston from Dorchester as a delicacy. They can become very large and are to be distinguished from the Short-nose Sturgeon fairly common in the St. John River in the Oromocto to Mactaquac area. Dammed rivers have seriously affected the population of the Atlantic sturgeon.

I am attaching 2 links of columns written some years ago that explains a lot about the history of this fish.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4bliykkkqj0dff2/STURGEON...PUBLISHED%20SEPTEMBER%2011%2C2010.doc?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/l26dazhl31n79s0/STURGEON...2002.wpd?dl=0

Sybil also got a photo of a young of the year Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. I suspect this is often a bird that goes unrecognized being so different in its juvenile plumage from its parents. We just don’t see them very often so suspect that they may leave us quite early to migrate.

I have had parent birds bring them to a jam feeder and a peanut butter feeder at our camp about this time of year which is the only time I personally have ever seen them and photograph them. A photo of that scenario is attached. The parents came all summer and brought the young for approximately a week in August.

**Jane LeBlanc like many is finding her milkweed patch attracts lots more than Monarch butterflies like other butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds. For her first time ever, a Black Swallowtail butterfly arrived in her yard to nectar on Common Milkweed. Jane also got a great photo of a Crab Spider lying in wait for an insect visitor to prey upon. She also had her fourth adult Monarch Butterfly visit of the year and was able to stealthily get very close to it as it took nectar with its proboscis firmly inserted and holding the bloom with its foot. Jane also got a photo of the beautiful Calico Penant Dragonfly while canoeing, no doubt a bit of feat! This is a very distinctive and stunning dragonfly. Gilles Belliveau comments it can be common in the right habitat but not common generally. Jane and Ed saw at on a Lakeshore near St. Martins and there were dozens of them flying.

**Aldo Dorio got a photo of a KILLDEER at Hay Island. He also got photos of terns perched on some buoys. The ones with dark bills would be young of the year birds. There is one that is potentially an Arctic Tern but it is difficult to tell if the bill is completely orange are not with bright light affecting the photo.

**The choke cherries are ripe and plump and Anna Tucker took note of a flock of robins enjoying them to the fullest. She also photographed a Chipping Sparrow enjoying the booty at a window feeder.

**Brian Stone got an excellent photo of the exuvia of a Cicada. They make perfect opportunities for photographs as movement is certainly no problem! Note the slit in the back where the adult emerged. It is the Dog Day Cicada that is more common at the moment making a stridulation that sounds like the speeding and slowing up of a bandsaw and can be very loud. They enjoy these very hot days.

Brian also comments he has 14 fledgling robins and his yard. Some folks have mentioned about the lack of robins this year. Maybe Brian has the market tied up.

Brian also visited his favourite milkweed patch. It is looking very sad with the hot conditions.

**I have been requested to advise lady naturalists who do not choose to use public washrooms at the moment or in cases where simply none are available anywhere which is often where naturalists find themselves. This simple device is available at Bass Pro shops and probably other camping outlets. It’s called a Lugaloo and fits perfectly over the 5 gallon buckets commonly used to create the perfect outdoor porta potty. No more need to accidentally pee in your boot! A lady who travels with me frequently terms it “a godsend”. I personally have no experience with using it!

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton