NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, 11 September
2021 (Saturday)
To
respond by email, please address your message to the information line editor,
nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Please
advise the editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com if any errors are noted in wording
or photo labelling.
For
more information on Nature Moncton, check the website at
www.naturemoncton.com
Edited
by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Transcript
by: Catherine Clements
Info
Line #: 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)
**The
young-of-the-year YELLOW-BELLIED
SAPSUCKER plumage is very different from either of its parents, and often
leads to queries as to what bird it is. Peter Gadd got some excellent photos of
a juvenile Yellow-bellied Sapsucker that show its intricate feather pattern,
even if it does lack the bright colours. It was going after sap with patterned
penetrations of a MOUNTAIN-ASH tree
in the Gadd’s yard.
**Mac
Wilmot sends photos of HOBBLEBUSH in
fruit and WITCH-HAZEL showing the
developed nuts.
The fruit clusters on Hobblebush are red at
the moment and will finally turn purple-black when fully ripe. The literature
advises the fruit reportedly may be eaten and is said to taste somewhat like
raisins. You can see the naked buds developing on the branch in one photo (arrowed).
These will overwinter and become a new leaf next spring (arrowed).
The Witch-Hazel is an interesting shrub. It
does not flash its yellow stringy blooms until very late in the season and can
be seen blooming as late as December. Interestingly, Mac’s photo also shows the
gall of the SPINY WITCH-HAZEL GALL APHID,
which is arrowed in the photo.
**Diana
Hamilton from the ornithology section of Mount Allison University advises all
catching/tagging of shorebirds this year is at Petit-Cap beach. They are doing 3
studies from this work. I’m quoting Diana below, where she explains just what
great research they’re doing from samples on captured birds. Her graduate
student, Allie Toms, provides the dates that the photos we submitted were
tagged. The tagged bird photo sent by Leon Gagnon in Miscou has been submitted,
but no results in as yet.
Quoting
Diana and Allie below:
“1) Looking at
movements and habitat use in several species. We tend to catch a good number of
SESA, SEPL, LESA, and WRSA, so we have at least 15 radio tags out on each of
these species (30 when we have enough juveniles and adults). We are also
looking at other species that are more occasional captures. So far this year we
have also tagged a few Lesser Yellowlegs, and a few Sanderlings. We hope to get
more of the latter in the next few weeks, and later in the fall we may try for
a few Dunlin. The idea is to examine both fine scale habitat use, and regional
movements. The latter is related to a broader province-wide project looking at
overall movements of birds (not just shorebirds), with an objective of helping
to provide guidance in positioning of wind farms.
2) We are using
stable isotope analyses in feathers to look at the breeding origin of SESA
using the region. This involves collecting feathers from juvenile SESA (because
we know they grew their feathers where they hatched) and measuring deuterium
levels in the feathers.
3) We are looking
at direct measures of weight gain in SESA. This involves capturing and flagging
birds, then attempting to re-capture them. So far, I think we have around 18-20
recaptures, and have been able to take blood samples from 11 of them. We are
hoping for a few more of the latter. We can then look at weight gain relative
to levels of plasma metabolites, which are often used as an index of fattening.
Interesting
anecdote - they just got word today that a SESA we flagged on Aug 10 was
spotted in Guadeloupe, so nice to see a successful migration south documented.”
Allie Toms
(graduate student working with Diana Hamilton) advises the birds from photos
submitted to Nature Moncton blog were captured at Petit Cap beach on the
following dates:
PH8 (SEPL)
- August 25th, 2021
NJ4
(SEPL) - September 5th, 2021
N9N (SESA) -
September 7th, 2021”
**Aldo Dorio
sends a few photos from Hay Island to show a female NORTHERN FLICKER flashing
the signature white rump of this species. The CEDAR WAXWINGS are
enjoying the plentiful ripening fruit crop and a BALD EAGLE was
surveying its territory.
**The TWO-COLORED BOLETE is a common
colourful mushroom. It is readily recognized, with the brick-red cap and stem
contrasted by a yellow undersurface (pores). It is one of the mushrooms that
the interior turns a bluish colour when bruised or cut in half and exposed to
oxygen. Some mushrooms that turn blue like this do have a toxic component, but
this one does not.
**A LARGE TOLYOPE MOTH visited my moth light Thursday night. The stretched perched posture helps to identify it as a Tolyope species. Several more visited on the cool Friday night to suggest this species flies on cooler nights.
Several CADDISFLIES
also visited, as they often do. We have many Caddisfly species in New
Brunswick, and all have this delta-winged posture when perched. They are a good
insect for Mother Nature’s community, especially for fish fodder during their
immature aquatic life, and for insect-eaters, especially birds, in their mature
land-breeding stage. They’re also a good indicator of clean unpolluted water.
nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Nelson
Poirier,
Nature
Moncton
