NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, July 29, 2021 (Thursday)
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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)
** Yolande Leblanc at 251 Rue Centrale in
Memramcook has done it again with a pleasant new yard bird … a striking adult LARK SPARROW. It arrived on Wednesday
and Yolande got some great photos to share of her good fortune.
** Gabriel Gallant got 4 nice photos of
a young of the year PALM WARBLER at
Johnson's Mills on Wednesday. Both Gabriel and I were thinking Cape May Warbler
but Gilles Belliveau pointed out why it is an immature Palm Warbler. Gilles
points out where an arrow in a photo points out an undertail pattern has a
black area underneath the tail which would not be present in a Cape May Warbler
but is indeed consistent with a Palm Warbler. All the photos are arranged in
the sequence. Gilles also points out (maybe giving consolation to Gabriel
Gallant and I!) that this is a problematic time of the year as we are dealing
with fledged young that can be blotchy and don’t always look like they will by
the fall. Some species do look like first fall plumage when they leave the nest
but some don’t and take a few weeks to get that plumage.
** Gordon Rattray did a careful walkthrough of Mapleton Park with botany in mind. One of his main targets was to photograph SNEEZEWORT. Sneezewort is not a commonly found plant but was found on a recent Tuesday evening Nature Moncton outing to Mapleton Park and Gordon got a great photo of it. It resembles Common Yarrow at first but on a close look the leaves are quite different and the ray petal number differs somewhat. I have only seen this plant once myself and that was on a Grand Lake shore. Gordon got great photos of several common plants, both the bloom and leaf structure, that are placed in order for botanically interested folk. There is a lot of plant diversity in Mapleton Park.
A GARTER SNAKE and an
EBONY JEWELWING DAMSELFLY also
joined the botanical show.
** It was a busy day on Wednesday in
Jane Leblanc’s St. Martins milkweed patch. Several FRITILLARY BUTTERFLIES and a HUMMINGBIRD
CLEARWING MOTH were being chased around her milkweed patch by a MONARCH BUTTERFLY which was in turn
being chased by several RUBY-THROATED
HUMMINGBIRDS. In a photo Jane was focused on a hummingbird which was
nectaring at the milkweed and could see the Monarch Butterfly in the photo but
didn’t notice until later that there was a MONARCH CATERPILLAR on the underside
of the leaf.
Jane also got a photo of a female or immature
Ruby-throated Hummingbird. It is hard to believe that the males will be already
having filed flight plans south in a few weeks. No doubt the females and the
young will be pleased to wave a wing goodbye for 2 to 3 weeks of peace!
** Aldo Dorio again photographed a BLACK SWALLOWTAIL BUTTERFLY at Hay Island that was a very fresh specimen with every marking perfect.
He also
photographed a rosebush that has some blooms that have moved to the berry/hip
stage and appear to be infected with a rust fungus.
Aldo also photographed a GREATER YELLOWLEGS at Hay Island that are arriving on their migration
route now. The photo also shows the variation of this species which we may not
expect.
** Brian Stone had a very cooperative
BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO greet him, and wake him with its calling, early on
Wednesday morning while visiting his sister in Upham. Brian got some fantastic
photos after a mad rush in pajamas out onto the side deck while hoping it
hadn’t just been a dream. Note that bright red eye ring feature we don’t often
get close enough to see. If only Brian had thought to turn on the audio to
catch the distinct cuckoo clock call that had alerted him.
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
