NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, July 11, 2021 (Sunday)
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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)
** Leon Gagnon is very happy to be back
to his summer home in Miscou Island at Wilson Point and he is enjoying watching
nature and photographing. On July 04 he spotted a WHIMBREL, an early migrant. On July 02 he saw 12 TREE SWALLOWS, suspecting them to be 2
families. Leon is seeing 25 to 50 WHITE-WINGED
CROSSBILLS in the Laméque/Miscou area enjoying a good maturing cone crop
and has noted an OSPREY carrying a
large clump of herbs probably making reparations to its nest after a very heavy
Miscou wind.
Leon also photographed a mother RED FOX with a few of her pups in
playful bliss.
** Lynda Leclerc was at the lake along
the Humphry’s Brook Trail on Saturday to check out for the Nature Moncton
Tuesday night outing and saw many MALLARD
DUCKS, at least 4 AMERICAN WIGEONS,
1 young PIED-BILLED GREBE but no
adults, also a BELTED KINGFISHER and
a BEAVER bringing a fresh leafy
branch across the lake. She could hear frogs but could not see them as well as
a few TREE SWALLOWS flying around
but she believes that the young have fledged from their nest boxes. Needless to
say there were several RED-WINGED
BLACKBIRDS as well. A few days ago there had been a small flock of CEDAR WAXWINGS and a WHITE-THROATED SPARROW. Hopefully we will
see some of these birds and wildlife on Tuesday evening.
** Marguerite Winsor recently noted the
colourful GOLDENROD CRAB SPIDER on
her Milkweed patch to get some nice photos. This spider gets its prey by
lunging on whatever insect it can get quickly enough as it does not build a
web.
** There were some recent comments on
the plant VALERIAN. Lois Budd sends
photos of it appearing in her yard. Valerian is very invasive and is quite
content to take over if not contained.
** On July 08 Brian Stone got some
nature photos on the Salt Marsh Trail near Cow Bay just outside Dartmouth, N.S.
to get a BLUISH SPRING MOTH that is
often mistaken for the Northern Blue Butterfly, BEACH PEA, a CABBAGE WHITE
BUTTERFLY enjoying the Beach Pea blossoms, GREATER YELLOWLEGS, POISON
IVY (Editor’s note: note how some of the leaves have one half bigger than
the adjoining half that is a Poison Ivy feature as well as a trio of shiny
leaves), COMMON TERNS and noting the
BLACKBERRIES yet to ripen but the RASPBERRIES already ripe as would be
expected.
Brian also came across another very
interesting event outside his family’s window in Dartmouth noting a RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD carrying nest
material and constructing a nest complete with using lichen as shingles. It may
seem odd for a Ruby-throated Hummingbird to be nest building now but the
Peterson bird nest guide points out that the Ruby-throated Hummingbird can
double-brood occasionally which may well be what’s happening from the photos
Brian was able to capture. He also managed to get some video clips showing the
hummingbird actively constructing and shaping the nest. Hopefully the nest will
be a success and Brian can get photos and videos of the finished product in use
at a later date when he returns to Dartmouth for another visit. (Editor’s note: Brian was sure in the right place
at the right time to record this event without any disturbance to the female
bird. He was able to get many action photos and videos and am going to run them
all at the end of the photo line-up. They are gems!) Take a look at the video action at the links
below and the photos that follow. Suspect most of us have not even found a
hummingbird nest let alone watching one being built.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/nmnstvi40ukmtle/Hummingbird%2000.mp4?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/cponjrrep0osak0/Hummingbird%2001.MOV?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/n6hrkjquqknkds5/Hummingbird%2002.MOV?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/372ftrx32pwo7ky/Hummingbird%2003.MOV?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/445nqmyqca52bmw/Hummingbird%2004.MOV?dl=0
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
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