Nature Moncton Nature News: March 26 2022

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

March 26, 2022 (Saturday)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

**Jane LeBlanc in St. Martins had several Red-winged Blackbirds arrive with a dozen or so Common Grackles in her yard on Friday. A documentary photo was not good enough to share.

Jane was also thrilled yesterday to catch a glimpse of a female Northern Cardinal flying through the yard. She did not stop for photos, but it's the first time in over 2 years a cardinal has been seen in the yard.

**Anna Tucker booked one of her favourite nature watching posts, a room at the Comfort lnn in Truro.

To her pleasant surprise, the Bald Eagles were up on the nest behind the Inn. (Editors note: Bald Eagles do not usually build their nests on power pylons with open exposure in this manner but this pair has been doing so for some years)

She noted White-tailed Deer on the marsh, something we can expect to see a lot of over the next month as the snow recedes in fields.

A pair of Common Ravens appeared to be on sentry duty with a suspected nest site nearby.

Pouring rain made photographs of the activity documentary.

**Brian Stone recently photographed the Maritime Sunburst Lichen (Xanthoria parietina) in Mapleton Park. The identification was verified by Kendra Driscoll and she shares some comments cited below:

Maritime Sunburst Lichen (Xanthoria parietina) is a common sight in coastal areas on trees, rocks, or concrete. It reproduces sexually, producing fungal spores within fruiting bodies (those round disks) which then must go out and find an appropriate alga with which to form a lichen. Look-alikes for this species normally have a different shape with narrower lobes (e.g. Pin Cushion Sunburst, Xanthoria polycarpa).

There are some tiny red-orange dots near the edge of the photo to the right of this lichen (red arrow). Those belong to a lichen in the same family (genus Caloplaca in the broad sense). Despite being in the same family these two lichens have very different growth forms with one forming a foliose (leafy) thallus with a distinct upper and lower surface and the other forming a crust that lacks a lower surface and cannot be removed from the substrate. (Editors note: the Elegant Sunburst Lichen (Xanthoria elegans) is another in this group that can give a striking colourful touch to seashore boulders)

**Nelson Poirier was pleased to have his favourite yard patron; a male Pileated Woodpecker arrive and very loudly announce to the neighbourhood that he had landed. This is by far the loudest member of the yard troupe, yet his loud vocalizations do not intimidate the other regular visitors. A Downy Woodpecker popped in beside him to enjoy a peanut breakfast.

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton