Nature Moncton Nature News: May 31 2023

May 31, 2023

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Edited by Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

** Fred and Sue Richards went for a walk to scout out the area of the upcoming first Nature Moncton Wednesday Walk for 2023. On Tuesday, May 30, the weather was perfect, and the area is beautiful.

The trail is called Haut du Ruisseau Nature Park in Memramcook. The 5 km trail system within the park is well-signed and colour coded.

There are 5 km of trails ranging from easy gravel/packed ground being to steep climbs and some tree-root paths giving moderate conditions. There is a porta-potty in the parking lot. The parking can hold about 10 vehicles. There are open benches, covered benches, and little buildings to sit in with a window to see out. There were beautiful stops alongside Breau Creek, which had many birds to be heard and some to be seen. Here is a list of birds, some seen, some only heard, but the app on the phone suggested what they were: Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Chestnut-sided Warblers, Black-throated Green Warbler, Yellow Warblers, American Redstart, Magnolia Warbler, Downy woodpecker, Northern Parula Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Red-eyed Vireo, Tennessee Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Eastern Phoebe, Blue Jays, Black-capped Chickadees, and American Robin.

On the ground was Bunchberry just starting to flower, flower buds on Nodding Trilliums, many ferns, and a Tri-coloured Bumblebee on a dandelion flower.

They are looking forward to seeing folks for the first Nature Moncton Wednesday Walk of the season.

(Editor’s note: these Wednesday evening walks have become very popular, and all details of the 8 scheduled walks over the summer will be announced a few days before each takes place.)

**Oscar LeBlanc installed two of the clay Cliff Swallow nests made by potter Gerry Collins. Oscar placed them perfectly in a peak joint of his home roof with a small ledge under the nests.

Three families of Cliff Swallows have taken to the nests and are busy in preparation for summer family life. The two man-made structures are being used, and a third nest was constructed on top. It is interesting to note the birds decreased the size of the hole opening attaching pellets of mud.

(Editor’s note: the swallows may be telling us that if this project is done another year, we should ask Gerry to make the opening hole just a bit smaller.)

**Always rewarding to get reports of Eastern Bluebird in New Brunswick as their numbers swell.

Aldo Dorio spotted a lone Eastern Bluebird in Malpec, near Neguac, on Tuesday.

**The Simon family has enjoyed recent visits of a suspected juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird at their feeder in Lutes Mountain. However, it took a few days to determine which species were the parents, and the Simons felt it to be Mourning Doves.

Brown-headed Cowbirds use the reproductive strategy of brood parasitism, whereby the adults lay their eggs in another species' nest and rely on the other species to raise their young.

(Editor’s note: this would seem very early in the season for the scenario to occur; however, the Mourning Dove is a very early nester and a female Brown-headed Cowbird may have taken advantage of that. Mourning Doves usually feed their young ‘crop milk' which creates another interesting scenario.)

Isabelle and Cathy Simon recently hiked the Mapleton Acadian Forest Nature Preserve outside of Elgin. Although they were not able to capture any good photos, they wanted to share that the apple orchard at the end of the trail is in full bloom right now. In addition, they saw and heard 6 different warbler species, and the Pink Lady Slippers will be blooming soon.

**Deana and Peter Gadd have an ornamental shrub in their Miramichi garden called Sand Cherry, which Deana has determined is a hybrid between a native Sand Cherry and Asian Purple Leaf Plum.

Each spring, the tips become damaged, and Deana noticed the cause on Tuesday. Ants were farming aphids for their honeydew. There is quite a story behind this process.

Here is a video clip:

20230530 Ant Farm Video | Peter Gadd | Flickr

Different-sized ants are involved, but not sure of the explanation for that.

Pruning the plants later in the spring results in a healthy appearing shrub (A Bob Osborne tip – Cornhill Nursery)

Peter got the very special video in the link above, as well as a still photo, of this interesting natural scenario.

**As an additional comment on Laughing Gulls in New Brunswick, Roger LeBlanc (who was a member of the New Brunswick Birds Record Committee) adds, “Laughing Gulls have nested several times (recorded since the 1960s) on Machias Seal Island. They do not nest there every year, but now and again. The island is quite near Maine but still in the province of New Brunswick.”

**On Monday, Brian Stone went for a walk behind Crandall University, and as usual, he took a few photos of what he saw along the way. A Blue-headed Vireo was gathering insects deep in the shadows of some trees, and the lack of light made the adjustment of its photos a challenge. In the same area, a Magnolia Warbler and a Nashville Warbler were busy foraging under the same conditions. A Chipping Sparrow was caught collecting twigs for nesting material, and a Northern Parula looked on, maybe wondering if it should do the same.

Brian was happy to find many Painted Trilliums and Nodding Trilliums in bloom, but the Pink Lady's Slipper Orchids were not quite open yet. Other plants photographed were Wild Sarsaparilla, Blue-Bead Lily (Clintonia), Canada Mayflower, Bunchberry, Ferns, Rhodora flowers, and a Pine Tree that had been stripped of all its bark. Walking from the university to Mapleton Park, Brian stopped to photograph a very crab-like Ground Crab Spider that was scooting along the sidewalk.

At Mapleton Park, Brian got quite a surprise when he heard a very loudly vocal Tennessee Warbler singing strongly right in the bushes at the entrance to the park. Excited for a chance to photograph a bird he had only seen once before, Brian stood and waited for 45 minutes expecting the bird to eventually show itself but was ultimately disappointed when it stopped singing and apparently left the area without granting the photographer an audience. Brian is still in a bit of a funk over that and might remain that way for a while.

Getting photos of a Red-breasted Nuthatch, a few Chestnut-sided Warblers, super cute Canada Goose Goslings, and a shiny fresh Four-spotted Skimmer Dragonfly was a consolation prize.