Nature Moncton Nature News: June 15 2023

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

June 15, 2023

Species names in boldface indicate that a photo is included.

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Edited by Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

**A beautiful obituary to our fallen comrade Roger LeBlanc can be viewed at

https://funerairepassagefuneral.ca/en/

It is in the English section of the obituaries.

** Catherine Hamilton had a Great-crested Flycatcher in her Anagance yard on Monday evening and got an excellent photograph.

Catherine has never seen this bird before and very much enjoyed having it visit her yard and it was very vocal about its visit.

(Editor’s note: we don’t often see this flycatcher species in southeastern New Brunswick, but it is more common in other parts of the province.)

**The few days of pleasant weather have really brought out the strikingly beautiful larger sphinx moths that often visit areas of artificial light in the evening/nights and will sometimes stay perched at the site as they rest during the day, preparing to carry on their nocturnal procreation missions.

Susan Richards had a visit from a Blinded Sphinx to get a great photo. The eyed sphinxes are similar. The black-edged blue eyespot on the hind wing and the scalloped outer margin help to identify Susan’s visitor.

**Rheal Vienneau and Yolande LeBlanc shared two very different views of the Lettered Habrocyne moth.

Rheal got a photo of one in an open wing position, day perching on his screen door. In contrast, Yolande got a photo of one that had gone into its very different curled-up camouflaged position, appearing as a stick and less attractive to predators.

No doubt a wise move, as the striking open wing pattern must be very easy to spot for bird lunch potential.

**Shannon Inman got a photo of a quite different colouration of a Rock Dove at her workplace.

Shannon also photographed a colourfully marked American Toad at their home, and an adult Bald Eagle was in wait below the Harvey Dam fishing.

(Editor’s note: Shannon’s photo of the American Toad nicely shows the variability in colour of the species, depending on its background. The distinct ten-second trill of the American toad is now being heard.)

**Brian Stone regrettably picked a quiet time at the Peregrine Falcon nest on the Assumption Building on Tuesday as there was no significant activity to get photographs of. He spent 45 minutes watching the nest, but one of the parent falcons just sat beside the nest box, unmoving the entire time as a couple of the chicks barely peeked out a few times to check on the new world waiting for them.

(Editor’s note: looking closely, there appears to be a third chick in the background, which Georges Brun recently verified.)

**Nelson Poirier joined the Nature Miramichi group for an outdoor June meeting night that included a very pleasant hike around the action-packed Miramichi Marsh.

Among the highlights were a pair of Eastern Kingbirds near their nest and a male Baltimore Oriole very adamant about advising an American Crow and a Common Grackle that they had no business in the territory of the couple’s nest he was protecting.

The interesting hanging basket-style nest of the Baltimore Oriole was spotted in an Aspen tree. The female had found some blue string that had become a significant material in weaving her nest.

It was also great to see Mountain Ash in full glorious bloom. Hopefully, it is an indication of a good crop this year, which we so missed last year to provide winter forage for fruit connoisseur birds.

A Clemson beaver pond leveler was present ready to be installed. These devices effectively create a permanent leak through the beaver dam that the beavers do not detect to protect from excessive flooding in an area inhabited by the beaver.