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Editor: Nelson Poirier    Proofreader: Louise Nichols

Sunday, 22 August 2021

August 22 2021

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, August 22, 2021 (Sunday)

 

 

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For more information on Nature Moncton, check the website at
www.naturemoncton.com .

 

Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Transcript by: Louise Nichols nicholsl@eastlink.ca

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

 

** Leon Gagnon got a photo of an adult PIPING PLOVER with a young-of-the-year on the large dune south of Wilson Point on Miscou on Friday.  Nice to see a young of this species at this age.  We just don’t get Piping Plover photos very often, especially with a youngster.

 Leon also had a visit from a female MONARCH BUTTERFLY to his Wilson Point yard on August 16th.  This fresh-looking adult is very apt to be filing flight plans to Mexico at this point.

 He also came across a recently fledged bird in a rather unsafe hiding place, an ATV.

 

 

** It’s that time of the year when caterpillars tend to be more abundant with some very colourful.  Rosita Lanteigne got a nice photo of the WHITE-MARKED TUSSUCK MOTH CATERPILLAR that nicely shows its colourful markings and tufts.

 

** On Aug. 18, Rosita reported locating a BAIRD’S SANDPIPER along with Michel Chaisson. Corinne DeGrace was able to get a documentary photo. This is another sandpiper we do not get photos of as it is relatively uncommon.

 

Gart Bishop pulled this little fellow (photo attached) out of his hair, and for a moment thought it was a tick at first.  INaturalist suggested it to be STRAWBERRY ROOT WEEVIL (Otiorhynchus ovatus), which fits the description on BugGuide.  This little fellow (.6 cm) is a native to Eurasia and considered invasive in North America.  The larvae feed on the roots of strawberry, blueberry, raspberry and hemlock and eastern white cedar. Adults feed nocturnally on foliage and cannot fly.  There are no males and reproduction is asexual through a process called parthenogenesis. This means that female adults can reproduce without the need for a male. In fact, no male specimen has ever been observed in this species.

 

**Last night Brian Stone got a photo of the full MOON with the planet JUPITER nearby. When there are 4 full Moons in a season (this time it's summer) the 3rd one is called a Blue Moon. This is an older, more traditional meaning of the name while recently it has come to mean the second full Moon in a single month. So traditionally this is a Blue Moon. The August full Moon has several other names such as the Sturgeon Moon and others if you look into it deep enough.


**It was pleasant to watch several LEAST SANDPIPERS enjoying the freshly exposed ‘yummy mud’ critters at a smaller stream near Waterside on Saturday.

 

 

** A heads-up on this coming Tuesday, August 24th Nature Moncton outing which will be a meander of the Mill Creek Nature Park Trail in Riverview.  Meet at 6:30 PM at the top of Runnymede Rd.  Runnymede Rd. is off Hillsborough Rd., the second street after the Petro-Can station across from Point Park subdivision.  This week’s outing will be led by Wendy Sullivan.

 

** Another heads-up to slot off Saturday Sept. 4th for a group visit to that popular shorebird site Petit-Cap.  All are welcome.  The write-up is attached below.

 

The shorebirds are coming! The shorebirds are coming!

Date: Saturday, Sept. 4th, 2021 (rain date – Sunday Sept. 5th)

Place: Petit-Cap (see specific meeting places below in description)

Time: 12:30 PM to start at Petit-Cap

Guide:  Roger Leblanc 

 

Well actually, the shorebirds have already been here for some time now. But they will still be building in numbers and diversity for a while so there is still time to take in the show.  And even if you have a chance of seeing shorebirds pretty well anywhere water meets land, there are some very special places where your chances are not only better to see large numbers but also a diversity of species.  One of the best spots in recent years has been the Petit Cap Dune and more precisely the lagoon it protects. At low tide the exposed flats become an “all you can eat” banquet for shorebirds as well as other sea birds. So Nature Moncton is offering an outing to that spot.  For viewing shorebirds, tides are of the essence, so the following date and time frame is very important. The date will be September 4th (with Sunday the 5th as a rain date) and the outing will start at 12:30 PM from the rough parking lot at the start of the dune. If you know the spot you can join us there. For those who might want to car pool or just prefer to follow our guide Roger Leblanc you can meet him in the parking lot of Champlain Place, just behind the Burger King at around 11:30 am. We will be leaving at 11:45 SHARP so don’t be late. If coming from between the city and the coast or closer, you could also join the group at 12:15 in Shemogue at the junction of routes 15 and 950.  We will regroup in the parking lot of the restaurant there. Then we will drive the 5 minutes or so to the beach and do an easy hike on it to the point where you can access the mud flats behind the dune. Birds can be expected on the beach but should also mostly be feeding on the mud flats that will be exposed by low tide at that time. Once there, you might want to walk in a bit of water to get closer to the show so bring appropriate footwear or just be ready to go shoeless. Roger will help us find and ID the shorebirds (as well as the many other feathered friends hanging around). He will also share with us his knowledge of the great migration phenomenon that will hopefully be unfolding right before our eyes. Hope to see you there. 

 

 nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier,

Nature Moncton


PIPING PLOVER AND YOUNG-OF-THE-YEAR. AUG 20, 2021. LEON GAGNON

BAIRD'S SANDPIPER. AUG 18, 2021.  CORINE DeGRACE

BAIRD'S SANDPIPER. AUG 18, 2021.  CORINE DeGRACE

LEAST SANDPIPERS. AUG 21, 2021.  NELSON POIRIER

LEAST SANDPIPERS. AUG 21, 2021.  NELSON POIRIER

MONARCH BUTTERFLY (FEMALE). AUG 16, 2021. LEON GAGNON

WHITE-MARKED TUSSOCK (Orgyia leucostigma). AUG 21, 2021.  ROSITA LANTEIGNE

WHITE-MARKED TUSSOCK (Orgyia leucostigma). AUG 21, 2021.  ROSITA LANTEIGNE

STRAWBERRY ROOT WEEVIL (Otiorhynchus ovatus). AUG 21, 2021. GART BISHOP

MOON AND JUPITER. AUG. 21, 2021. BRIAN STONE


 

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