NATURE
MONCTON NATURE NEWS
September
12, 2023
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**Heads
up on a few items that are about to change with Nature Moncton for the upcoming
season.
The
Nature Moncton website is undergoing a facelift by Cathy Simon and is expected
to be launched soon. Cathy is doing an incredible job, and her efforts will soon
be appreciated fully.
The upcoming meeting on September 19
will be a live presentation but not on Zoom. Zoom capabilities are being
upgraded, and upcoming meetings after September will be shared on the new
platform. The write-up on the September meeting on ‘Growing Native Species in your
Backyard’ with presenters Pierre Janin and Samuel Legresley is posted at the
end of this edition.
**Pat Gibbs photographed two American Crows
showing features we don’t always see.
The photo of the crow just landing from flight appears
to be showing areas of leucism.
The remaining two photos
show a crow that would appear to be a young-of-the-year bird molting into adult
plumage to give that very ‘unfinished’ look this time of year that we never
seem to get accustomed to.
**Aldo Dorio is finding the Great
Egret is getting quite comfortable at its temporary home at Hay Island.
**It’s fall with ample
moisture to make the mushrooms quite content, so anticipate a season of plenty. I expect photos will be featured soon.
Nelson Poirier shares a
recent photo of the Pine Suillus mushroom. The mottled red colour of the
cap is very typical and this mushroom is always found associated with a Pine tree, usually
White Pine. It is mycorrhizal with White Pine roots, giving the tree nitrogen, phosphorus,
and micronutrients in exchange for sugars the tree produces.
The suillus mushrooms are in
the bolete group, but the underside pores are large and angular instead of the
fine pores of its boletus kin. It is not known to have any toxic component but it is not a desirable edible; more pleasant to just admire!
A second one photographed
over and under is a common gilled mushroom in the Russula group known as The
Sickener Mushroom as it does contain a toxic component that can cause
gastrointestinal upset if consumed by humans.
Its red cap with pure white
stalk and gills, when fresh, is an ID clue.
** NATURE
MONCTON MEETING PRESENTATION
“Growing
Native Species in your Backyard”
September
19th, 2023
Rotary
Pavilion, Mapleton Park at 7:00 PM
Presenters: Pierre Janin and Samuel Legresley
With the
loss and fragmentation of habitat, the loss of biodiversity, pollution, climate
change, and many more factors that take a huge toll on our native wildlife, it
is time that we do our part to try and recreate what we are losing in our own
backyard. For the past few years, Samuel
Legresley and Pierre Janin have turned their focus to native plants, learning
how to identify them, how to propagate them, and how to educate people on good
gardening practices in an attempt to attract, protect, feed, and create habitat
for our native species.
For about a
century, non-native species have been introduced in the nursery trade to
beautify our properties. Trees, shrubs, and flowers from as far as Eastern
Asia, with fragrant, colourful, and numerous blossoms, have become the standard
of landscaping. Everybody owns or knows someone who owns a Colorado Spruce, a
Japanese Lilac, a Norway Maple, a Burning Bush, a Hydrangea or a Butterfly
Bush, Hostas, Spireas, Daisies, Bearded Irises, or Shrimp Willows. Even though
they all look great, their usefulness to our native species, i.e. our
pollinators, birds, and native insects, is very limited. Some of these alien
species that do not share an evolutionary history with our local wildlife might
provide some food, cover, and nectar for some, but not as much as our native
species.
In this
presentation, Samuel and Pierre will introduce native species, will discuss the
importance of planting them instead of non-native species, and will educate us
about all the benefits they provide to our backyards and to our local wildlife.
They will give examples of species that you can grow and species to avoid so
that you can recreate habitats that have been fragmented or lost over time,
including species that will attract as many insects and birds as possible while
making your garden a four-season delight for our fauna.
Come and
learn how to draw pollinators, insects, and birds to your yard. All are welcome, Nature Moncton member or
not.
This will be
a live presentation.
Zoom will
not be available for the September meeting as Zoom capabilities are being
upgraded and are expected to be at full steam for meetings thereafter.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
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