NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, 10 July 2021 (Saturday)
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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Transcript
by: Catherine Clements
Info
Line #: 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)
**Yolande
LeBlanc got some very welcome photos of some of the NORTHERN CARDINAL fledglings coming to her Memramcook bird feeder
site. We will not know the genders until near fall, as the young will all look
like females except for the flesh-coloured bill and no dark mask. Yolande
comments they are wary, so she is careful about getting too close for photos.
The adults come to the feeder site as well. Yolande also has 6-7 RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, as well as several DOWNY
and HAIRY WOODPECKERS, along with
other expected regulars.
**When
Sterling Marsh looked out his dining room window, he spotted two DOWNY WOODPECKERS at the hummingbird
feeder. He soon realized it was Mom showing the young one where the good stuff
was. At times it looked like air traffic control was needed! When it really
started to rain, they tucked up under the platform and kept dry.
Also, a heads-up for people: on Thursday when
Sterling opened the car hood to boost the lawn tractor, he found a GROUNDHOG laying on top of the motor.
He felt that he had barbecued it, but after a little nudge it moved down the
side of the engine, and a second nudge set it running for its den. Sterling
researched and found that it is not rare for Groundhogs to do this, and he
commented, “Who would have thought?” No pictures were taken, as he thought the
poor thing was dead.
**On
the past week’s Tuesday night Nature Moncton outing to the Tankville Trail,
Richard Perron got some excellent photos of GOLDEN SAXIFRAGE a.k.a. WATER-CARPET. This grows in shallow freshwater
wet areas and is often overlooked, with flowers that tend to like to hide.
Richard also got photos of SHINLEAF
(in the Pyrola family) and FOWL MANNAGRASS.
(Editor’s note: the latter was confirmed by Gart Bishop.)
*Gordon Rattray was in the Belleisle Creek Marsh area on Thursday. It was not a nature trip, but Gordon got a few photos from near shore on the upper end of the lake, to include FRAGRANT WATER-LILY, HEDGE BINDWEED, and WATER-HEMLOCK.
**For
folks interested in dragonflies, we mis-labelled a female COMMON WHITETAIL DRAGONFLY as a TWELVE-SPOTTED SKIMMER DRAGONFLY in the July 8th edition. This has
been corrected. Gilles Belliveau noted the mistake and provides some excellent
points on how the female Common Whitetail and the immature male Twelve-spotted
Skimmer can be confused, especially in photos. Gilles comments the female
Common Whitetail, which has a very similar wing pattern and looks quite
different from the male Common Whitetail’s wing pattern. The Twelve-spotted
Skimmer would have a series of rectangular yellow spots on the side of the
abdomen, which are all pretty much connected and form a yellow stripe on both
sides of the abdomen. Common Whitetails have smaller irregular (somewhat
triangular) pale yellowish (near-white) spots on the side of the abdominal
segments that are mostly disconnected, like in Louise Nichols’ photo. Gilles
sends a photo of an immature male Twelve-spotted Skimmer Dragonfly for
comparison, as they look pretty much like the female Common Whitetails, except
this individual is starting to develop the white spots in the wing between the
black spots.
**Aldo
Dorio got more photos of a BROWN
THRASHER in the Malpec area near Tabusintac. It was gathering food. Aldo
also very much suspects a nest is nearby but was not able to locate it. Nesting
Brown Thrashers in New Brunswick have been documented, but it is certainly not
common. Brown Thrashers have been at this site for several years.
**Brian
Stone has spent the last three days in Nova Scotia, and shares nature photos he
got on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. On Tuesday, July 6th, Brian visited
one end of Long Lake Provincial Park in Halifax, Nova Scotia, while on a family
visit to Dartmouth. He saw a family of MALLARD
DUCKS with several other ducklings. Also, he saw some INDIAN PIPE plant pushing through the woodland floor debris. (Editor’s
note: the Indian Pipe is a parasitic plant on the roots of other plants and
does not produce its own chlorophyll, remaining white as it grows. It turns
dark and shrinks as it matures, to give it the name Indian Pipe. Other folklore
literature refers to them as “Forest Nuns” due to their “prayer posture.”)
A ROBBER
FLY rested on a plant leaf, and photos of several plant varieties will be
sent in for future editions.
On Wednesday, July 7th, Brian made a side trip
to Grand-Pré, while visiting a sister in Port Williams. A BALD EAGLE nest with one eaglet visible and two doting parents was
the highlight, but a SWAMP MILKWEED
plant in the garden of the historic site offered a nice photo of a MONARCH BUTTERFLY CATERPILLAR. On
Thursday, July 8th, Brian walked the Salt Marsh Trail in Cole Harbour, at the
Bissett Road entrance, and was surprised by a healthy and “fairly calm” MINK on one of the bridges. It
cautiously but calmly walked past him on the bridge and volunteered several
nice photo poses. (Editor’s note: note the white chin on the Mink. This is a
characteristic of Mink. If it does not have this white chin, it could be an
escapee ranch Mink that this feature has been bred out of). A pair of friendly GREATER YELLOWLEGS also posed for a
good portrait, and a HUMMINGBIRD
CLEARWING MOTH was nectaring on a few of the VIPER'S BUGLOSS plants along the trail. A few more images from that
walk will be forthcoming in a day or two.
**Alain
Clavette is arranging a pelagic trip off Grand Manan on July 31st. At the moment
there are 8 spaces left. There is a lot of information on the poster in the
photo section that may have to be clicked on to enlarge to get all the details.
**As a
heads-up on the Nature Moncton series of Tuesday nature walks, this coming
Tuesday night will be at Humphrey Brook Trail, led by Lynda Leclerc. All
details are attached below:
Nature Moncton Tuesday Evening Walk July 13,
2021
The Humphreys Brook Trail
Time: Walk will start at 6:30PM. If you could
arrive earlier around 6:15 so we can cover Covid rules. The cost is free for
members and children. Non-members $2.00.
Meeting Place: Harrisville Blvd. Entrance of the
Humphreys Brook Trail
Directions: Via East Bound Trans Canada Hwy,
take Exit 462, Caledonia Industrial Park. Turn right at the stop sign on to
Harrisville Blvd and go .6 km. Trail head entrance is on the right. No parking
lot, so park on the widened gravel shoulder. Via West Bound TCH, take Exit 462,
Caledonia Industrial Park. Turn left at the stop sign on to Harrisville Blvd.
Go .8 km to trail entrance on the right and park on the shoulder of the road.
Via Shediac Rd., go 1.1 km East from Stirling Apples and turn left at the
traffic lights on to Harrisville Blvd. Go .7km to the trail entrance which is
on the left. You can park on either side of the road. Careful, traffic can be
heavy.
This is part of the Humphreys Brook Trail which
is 5.7km long. Time permitting, we will do approximately the first 2km
and then walk back to our vehicles. This is an easy, wide, level,
well-groomed trail that I even saw a gentleman with an electric wheelchair
use. At the beginning there is a small beaver dam, man-made lake with
waterfowl and green frogs, (I heard many calling the other morning),evident.
There is lots of wooded area and plants following along the brook and depending
on the time of day many birds can be seen or heard. There can be mosquitos and
pesky insects so plan accordingly. I am excited to introduce you to this trail
which was originally and still is a sewage trunk connecting to the wastewater
treatment facility in Riverview.
Looking forward to being your leader
Lynda Leclerc
nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Nelson
Poirier,
Nature
Moncton
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