NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

May 24, 2022 (Tuesday)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

**Aldo Dorio was able to photograph a female American Redstart at Hay Island on Monday. We don’t tend to get many photographs of the female of this warbler.

Aldo also photographed a Northern Waterthrush. During most of the season that this warbler is with us, it is secretive and skulky in wet areas at ground level. This time of year, the males can be up in trees establishing territories and locating mates.

**Jim Johnson in Scotch Settlement reports he has at least 30 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds around his feeders at the moment and sends a video to back that up. Take a look at the action at the link below:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3rsv6h9c8j9ekgr/20220523_205254.mp4?dl=0

**Jane LeBlanc in St. Martins stood and 'phished' on her deck Monday morning and drew out Northern Parula Warbler, Canada Warbler, Wilson's Warbler and American Redstart. She got documentary photos of some.

She also saw a Canadian Tiger Swallowtail butterfly go by, but it did not stop for a photo op. Not as exciting as Ted Sears' Monarch Butterfly, but a new species for the year just the same.

**On Monday afternoon Brian Coyle had a pair of Eastern Bluebirds

 checking his 2 swallow nesting boxes. They checked it out for

nearly an hour before moving on. Brian is hoping they find

the accommodations to their satisfaction.

** Brian Stone returned to the Highland Park wetlands in Salisbury early on Monday morning hoping to catch the rare Least Bittern at a more active time of day and was successful this time. With the help of David Miller, he got pointed in the right direction and after a fairly long wait the bittern showed itself in a small gap in the dense grasses and proceeded to feed on what looked like a large bullfrog tadpole. It then flew up to the top of the nearby dead grass and perched for a few minutes before returning to its hiding spots deep in the grass and remained out of sight for the rest of Brian's visit. While Brian was there (editor’s note: the Least Bittern is an uncommon find in New Brunswick and bear in mind it is a small heron at only 13 inches).

Brian also photographed an American Coot and a cruising Bald Eagle. A last photo of the morning was a large Bullfrog calling noisily at the edge of the marsh.

**Nelson Poirier photographed Canada Plum in bloom on Monday.

Canada plum was once a very popular wild edible in Canada. It became infected with a fungus (Taphrina communis) which allows the shrub to bloom but prevents the fruit from forming creating so-called ‘plum pockets’. Canada Plum has now become quite rarely found as the fungus prevents the seed from being formed to create new plants. The shrub sets its striking flowers and leaves at the same time.

This shrub was found blooming near Red Bank.

Nelson also photographed NoddingTrillium in bloom. This trillium sets its bloom underneath the leaves as the photograph shows.

**It’s time to slot off on the calendar for this coming Saturday, May 28 for a Nature Moncton field trip to the Port Elgin-Baie Verte area. The write up is attached below:

NATURE MONCTON FIELD TRIP TO THE BAIE VERTE NATURE RESERVE AND PORT ELGIN LAGOON

DATE: Saturday May 28^th (rain date: Sunday May 29^th)

TIME: 9:30 AM

MEETING PLACE: The parking lot of Saint James United Church at the corner of Main St. (Rte 970) and Siddall Rd. in Baie Verte.

GUIDES: Louise Nichols (location) and Roger Leblanc (birds)

The end of May can be a very active time in Nature. While this is the case everywhere there are some spots where the “show” seems to be concentrated. And one of these is certainly the coastal region between Baie Verte and Port Elgin. Situated at the northeastern end of the Isthmus of Chignecto it is clearly on a bird migration route but also harbors vast marsh and coastal habitats that favor a lot of life forms from insects to plants and more. On this field trip, we’ll explore a couple of special spots in this unique region. From the starting point at the church, we will drive down Siddall Rd. until we get to the Baie Verte Nature Reserve, protected by the Nature Conservancy of Canada. We will then walk an easy trail (about 2 km one way) that passes through some marsh areas, open fields and woods until it finally reaches the beaches of the Northumberland Strait. The area’s diversity is good for birds, but also butterflies, dragonflies, and a variety of plant species. We will pass by an Osprey nest which was active last summer.

Afterward, we’ll drive along Rte. 970 to Port Elgin where we’ll stop and visit the lagoon in the centre of town. This lagoon (not widely known) tends to attract a different variety of waterfowl from some other lagoons, with more diving ducks, especially Buffleheads in the spring and fall. The lagoon also attracts swallows to the nest boxes erected at the lagoon and many warbler species to the treed areas around it. If we have time, we can walk a moderately rough trail about half a kilometer through the woods that ends in a marshy area along the shoreline of the Gaspereau River.

Bring a lunch and snacks.

All are welcome, Nature Moncton member or not.

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com