Nature Moncton Nature News: Aug 6 2022

August 6, 2022 (Saturday)

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

**Jamie Burris now has 7 Monarch Butterfly caterpillars in the chrysalis stage and Friday morning after 8 days they had the first adult Monarch Butterfly emerge. After leaving the chrysalis, it hung there for about 2 hours. It then flew to the wheelbarrow and stayed there for a half hour then flew to their plum tree and stayed there for another hour before departing the backyard. That's one gone and 7 more to go! Such a rewarding thing to do.

Over the next several days, there is a high possibility that 7 more emerged Monarch Butterflies will be filing flight plans for Mexico!

**Shannon Inman shares a few photos of a shed Garter Snake skin in the Harvey, Albert County area. One photo has a can of insect repellent for size comparison.

It is always amazing how cleanly the snake can shed its skin for a new edition. Just before the snake sheds, the cornea of the eye becomes very blue which is shed as well.

**Brian Stone sends a few more photos from his outings at his family's place near Perth, Ontario. The Gray Treefrog is still occupying his cozy plastic tube in the child's jungle gym and it looks particularly relaxed during the day before, Brian assumes, going hunting at night.

One of Brian's most favourite photo targets when visiting Ontario is the Giant Swallowtail Butterfly. He searched for 5 days this time before finally coming across one nectaring in the same Purple Loosestrife patch that he got photos of one the last time he visited. Must be a popular fueling station. (Editor’s note: we have only received one other photo of this species with a single individual photographed by Jean Renton in the Canaan area. It is the largest butterfly to edge into Canada).

Another target Brian looks for is different dragonflies that are not seen (as far as he knows) in the Maritimes. This time he got photos of a female Eastern Pondhawk Dragonfly and a female Widow Skimmer Dragonfly. A mating pair of White-faced Meadowhawk Dragonflies gave a little taste of familiarity.

**Brian Stone adds some photographs from Ontario including a large Millipede, some small mud balls that appear to be Potter Wasp Mud Nests, one the size of a small marble and one the size of a large pea, a Hummingbird Clearwing Moth nectaring on Joe Pye Weed, more close ups of the soaring Turkey Vultures over the yard, a very distant Red-tailed Hawk (editor’s note: the patagial bar on the leading edge of the wing near the body is a signature field mark of the Red-tailed Hawk).

Another Brian favourite is the Eastern Garter Snake. This snake was bright and fresh and had more yellow on it and smoother patterns than any Maritime Garter Snake Brian has seen at home. It gave him pause for a few hours as he thought it might be a different variety but he came to feel that it was just a very impressive example of the common version from the area. Brian was surprised at the calmness of the snake as it allowed itself to be picked up without complaint and remained peaceful for a photo session. Brian wonders if it might have been suffering a bit of heat stroke due to the high temperatures.

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com