NATURE MONCTON NATURE INFORMATION
LINE, Sept. 30, 2021 (Thursday)
To respond by e-mail, 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
Info Line # 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)
**John Inman is having a real run of
special visitors to his to 225 Mary’s Point Road yard in Harvey. Monday started
with a young of the year Red-headed Woodpecker; Tuesday, it was joined
by 3 Baltimore Orioles and Wednesday brought in a young of the year White-crowned
Sparrow refuelling on its southerly migration after breeding to the north
of us.
John also got a nice photo of a duo of Chipping
Sparrows to be a good reminder of what to expect with them in nonbreeding
plumage. We are not accustomed to seeing Chipping Sparrows in this plumage so a close look at John's photo may be indicated for many of us.
Both John and I had to get our sparrow
thoughts straightened out by Gilles Belliveau.
**Yvette Richard photographed a
handsome male Wood Duck at McManus Pond on Wednesday. Breeding plumage
appears to have completely returned and seemingly quite content to show it off.
**Verica LeBlanc captured a very
interesting bumblebee photo close-up that shows the proboscis (bumblebee
tongue) taking nectar. The literature points out it is actually a long, hairy
structure that extends from a sheath-like maxilla. The primary action of the
tongue is lapping, that is, repeated dipping of the tongue into the liquid.
A very interesting photo.
**Daryl Doucette is watching a yard Oak
tree laden with acorns and Grey Squirrel scenario. One squirrel is going
out to the end of the branches as far as can and nipping off the end of the
branches laden with nuts. It then is taking the nuts and burying them in the
neighbourhood lawns.
It is very common to see nip twigs dropped by the Red Squirrel in winter on the snow under conifer trees, but Daryl has not seen this before with his yard Oak tree. I have not either but maybe it is more common where Oak trees are abundant. This is one very busy Grey Squirrel!
**Aldo Dorio photographed a young of
the year Yellow-bellied Sapsucker on Wednesday in Neguac. This bird is
starting to show signs of molting to adult plumage showing spots of red in the
head area and the yellow blush on the breast which is muted even in adult
plumage.
Aldo also got a portrait of a Red
Knot in winter plumage showing the white supercilium over the dark eye,
spotted chest, and black primary wing projection.
**To add more to the mushroom chatter,
Gordon Rattray reports that he noticed a few patches of Honey Mushrooms behind
his garage on Tuesday, but on Wednesday, there were dozens more. Gordon got
some nice photos to illustrate this species showing it growing in groups mostly
around stumps which is the expected habitat. The photo shows the underside with
that signature Elizabethan collar style partial veil and a very pale yellowish
spore print.
The Honey Mushroom is considered a
choice edible.
**Brian Stone did a short the walk
along the Humphrey trail to note the abundance and variety of mushrooms there.
He took spore prints from several which all came out white except the
Red-gilled Cort (Cortinarius semisanguineus) which was brown as all corts are.
The blood red gills on this species when fresh are striking.
Brian also photographed what appears to
be either the Hollow – stalked Larch Suillus or the Painted Suillus
depending on which tree species it was growing under. The Suillus genus often
has the large angular pores as can be seen in Brian’s photo.
**I was a bit surprised to find a large
cluster of fresh Oyster Mushrooms on a Red Maple tree in front of our
home. This species is a choice edible and is now grown commercially. A few photos
show the frontal view, and some removed to show the widely spaced gills
underside. The spore print is white. They usually grow on dying hardwood trees
so not a good sign for our Red Maple tree that appeared to have a good summer
but very possibly its last.
**The Nature Moncton Field trip to
visit and experience the unique Sussex Bluff is scheduled for this coming
Saturday, Oct. 2 led by Gart Bishop. The first two photos below show a panoramic
view from the Sussex Bluff and a map to the scheduled meeting place. If
weather causes any schedule changes, it will be announced tomorrow. The
write-up for the visit is below:
NATURE
MONCTON FIELD TRIP TO SUSSEX BLUFF
OCTOBER
2, 2021 (Saturday) DEPARTING 1:00 PM
LEADER:
GART BISHOP
On October
2, enjoy an early fall walk through mixed forest and hemlock stands out to
Sussex’s ‘Big Bluff’. The somewhat hilly
trail, while well-established is full of roots, and in places is narrow along
rocky ridges. Round trip it is about 4
km. There are many treats in store such
as Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi),
Rock Spike-moss (Selaginella rupestris), and Douglas’
Knotweed (Polygonum douglasii), newly discovered by Jim
Goltz in 2018 during a Botany Club outing.
Other plants we will see are Three-toothed Cinquefoil (Sibbaldiopsis
tridentata) and Prince’s Pine (Chimaphila umbellata). Plus, once at the Bluff, participants are
treated to a panoramic view of Trout Creek (see photo below) winding its way
through ‘Dutch Valley’. Walk will start
at 1 pm, and participants will meet at the Sussex Corner water tower as
indicated on the map below.
Take exit 198 off Hwy 1. Turn left onto Hwy 111, continue 350 m to
stop sign, turn left to follow Hwy 111 (also called St. Martins Road). Continue 1 km, turn right to follow Hwy 111
(now also called Post Rd). Continue 1.5
km then turn left onto Sullivan Dr.
which will change to Pugsley St after a sharp right turn. Continue a couple hundred meters then turn
left onto Rockridge Dr. Continue 900 meters and park by the water tower.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
No comments:
Post a Comment