NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, June
16, 2021 (Wednesday)
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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Transcript by: Brian Stone bjpstone@gmail.com
Info Line # 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)
** A big thank you to David Bell who
presented at the Nature Moncton meeting on Tuesday evening to show how he was
the youngest birder in Canada to pass the 500 bird milestone and show how and
where he got to see the birds on a budget and got many excellent photos of the
birds he saw. Many of David’s birds were from the Maritime Provinces. It was a
very enjoyable presentation from a pleasant and knowledgeable presenter.
** Pat Fox spotted a bat flying at
Murray Corner while having a campfire. Its size is hard to judge from one
individual but she felt it to be a small one.
** Gordon Rattray took a hike along the
dike road from Grays Island to Gray Brook Pond in Hillsborough on Monday. One
observation was the dryness of the water ditches made dragonfly hunting in
areas that are usually productive less so. Near Grays Island he heard a number
of NELSON'S SHARP-TAILED SPARROWS [Bruant de Nelson] but only had visuals as
they were on the wing. A GREAT BLUE HERON [Grand Héron] was standing in the
middle of Gray Brook Pond.
He noted the young TREE SWALLOWS
[Hirondelle bicolore] looking out of the nest box on the dam and wildflowers
are getting productive in all areas. Gordon shares some nice floral photos of BLUE-EYED
GRASS, STICHWORT, and YELLOW RATTLE. A CLOUDED
SULPHUR BUTTERFLY [Papillon de soufre assombri] was enjoying nectaring on a
blooming clover head and he did get a photograph of the COMMON WHITETAIL
DRAGONFLY and FOUR-SPOTTED SKIMMER DRAGONFLY.
** Andrew Darcy got a photo of a
suspected BELTED KINGFISHER [Martin-pêcheur d'Amérique] nest opening on a
shoreside bank at the Irishtown Nature Park reservoir during the recent
Festival of Nature visit. The Belted Kingfisher burrows into an earthen bank
sometimes to a surprising depth to build its nest, well protected from
predators.
** Rheal Vienneau, among other
butterflies, raises CECROPIA MOTHS and releases them. Rheal sends cell phone
photos of one that just emerged Tuesday and is very fresh and of another
photographed last year. I misidentified a Cecropia Moth that was actually a
Columbia Silkmoth on Monday’s edition that was changed in a few hours when
Rheal pointed out the error, pointing out that there is much more purple in the
Columbia Silkmoth as opposed to the more orange in the Cecropia Moth. It is so
easy to identify them when seeing them in the hand as the Columbia Silkmoth is
much smaller than the huge Cecropia Moth. I am reattaching a photo of a
Columbia Silkmoth that I photographed recently at my own moth light aside Rheal’s
photos for comparison.
** Brian Stone returned to Highland
Park in Salisbury with the hope that more dragonflies and butterflies might be
present as the warm weather continued. As he was searching for the little
things some of the larger patrons caught the eye of his camera such as the AMERICAN
COOT [Foulque d'Amérique], the resident BALD EAGLE [Pygargue à tête blanche]
perched across the river, and a small family of WOOD DUCKS [Canard branchu].
Another BALD EAGLE [Pygargue à tête blanche] was having a game of peck and
chase with an AMERICAN CROW [Corneille d'Amérique] in the far distance.
In the world of smaller critters Brian
photographed several BUMBLEBEES including the COMMON EASTERN BUMBLEBEE, the
TRI-COLOURED BUMBLEBEE, and several tiny CARPENTER BEES of Ceratina
species were checking out the Buttercup flowers. These small bees average only
8 mm. A beautiful BLUET DAMSELFY was one of many and a DOT-TAILED WHITEFACE
DRAGONFLY and a RACKET-TAILED EMERALD DRAGONFLY, and a suspected DUSKY CLUBTAIL
DRAGONFLY managed to get themselves in the picture. A CANADIAN TIGER
SWALLOWTAIL BUTTERFLY [Papillon tigré du Canada] was enjoying the blooming
flowers along the trail (Editor's note: note the long flexible proboscis feeding tube in Brian's photo) and an ELM SAWFLY buzzed Brian and got photographed for
its efforts.
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
