August 23, 2022 Tuesday)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

** It is hard to believe that another summer is winding down and this Wednesday (tomorrow night, Aug 23) will be the final Wednesday Walk of the summer of 2022. This week’s walk will start at 31 Rockland No.1 Road, Taylor Village NB. E4K 2R1. The walk will begin at the home of Fred and Susan Richards and will be over easy terrain through a small, wooded area and along the Memramcook River. In the last week they have seen lots of interesting things such as Great Blue Herons, Belted Kingfishers, a Short-Tailed Weasel (very briefly), Monarch Butterflies (both adult and caterpillars). a Luna Moth Caterpillar, lots of young birds including training flights of both ducks and geese (over 200 ducks in one flock) and many other things of nature interest. The walk will start at 6:30 PM but come early and have a snack on the Richards and mingle with other club members as it is fun to socialize in the beauty of Mother Nature. The Richard’s phone number is 506-334-0100 and please call if you need help with directions as many GPS products do not believe that the bridge went out in 1978 and will try to get you there from the Dorchester side of the river.

Fred has attached a map from Dieppe to 31 Rockland No.1 Road for your convenience which is the first photo in today’s photo lineup.

**Louise Nichols recently picked up an inflatable kayak that she is finding useful for nature excursions. The deflated boat is easy to load in her car and takes less than 5 minutes to inflate. She has been enjoying taking it out on nearby marshes. On Monday morning she took it out to the Tintamarre Wildlife Area (the location of one of Nature Moncton Wednesday night walks) as she wanted to see Paunchy lake in this area which is surrounded by bog and difficult to access by foot. She launched the kayak at the spot where a recent Wednesday night walk stopped and went from there. Not wanting to risk taking her good camera on the boat, she took some documentary photos with her old camera and a couple with her cell phone of the channel leading to Paunchy, the lake itself and some of the plant life alongside the water. Louise has also been out to a couple of marshes in Amherst and looks forward to further water explorations.

(Editor’s note: this craft sounds like an incredible piece of gear for sleuthing naturalists and I asked Louise for a photo and more details. It inflates in 5 minutes and very easy to move about. She purchased it at Bass Pro Shop in Moncton at $140 plus tax).

**Peter Gadd was recently able to capture some very special videos of family life of Double-crested Cormorants and a group of Ruddy Turnstones very busy about their days mission.

The Double-crested Cormorant family was taken on August 18 at Orby Head at PEI National Park. It shows the raucous impatience of teenage Double-crested Cormorants with their insatiable appetite as they gobble down groceries from their parent’s crop being delivered by the seemingly more patient parents!

A second video taken on August 20 at Barachois Beach near South Rustico, PEI shows a much more patient group of Ruddy Turnstones going about their day flipping rocks in search of seafood delicacies. The activity clearly shows how Ruddy Turnstones get their name. A Semipalmated Plover makes a brief cameo appearance.

Enjoy both of these videos at the links below:

https://flic.kr/p/2nFUSUn

https://flic.kr/p/2nFUTdy

**Coneflower is a very popular garden plant at this time of year for wild species that seek nectar and later when it produces its crop of sought-after seeds.

Verica LeBlanc in Miramichi has been having butterflies attracted to her patch of Coneflower to get nice photographs of a fresh Viceroy Butterfly and an Atlantis Fritillary Butterfly.

A Seven-spotted Lady Beetle also joined the parade.

**Lisa Morris got a good close-up photo of the Northern Paper Wasp (Polistes fuscatus). This wasp likes to nest around human habitation often under roof eaves in an umbrella shaped nest of several open cells attached by a short strong neck-like attachment. These wasps are generally not aggressive and will ignore humans nearby unless the nest is actively disturbed.

**Aldo Dorio got some nice close-up photographs of a juvenile Least Sandpiper at Hay Island on Monday preening itself and showing lots of field marks. Note the greenish yellow legs, slightly decurved bill, fresh white scaled feathers of a juvenile, grunge (makeup mark) in front of the eye, and brown ground colour.

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com