Editor & Proofreader

Editor: Nelson Poirier    Proofreader: Louise Nichols

Monday 18 September 2023

September 18 2023

 

 

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

September 18, 2023

 

 

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Edited by Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

 

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

 

 

**Tomorrow night, Tuesday, September 19 will be the first Nature Moncton meeting of the new season.

The duo of Pierre Janin and Samuel Legresley will give a live presentation on ‘Growing Native Species in your Backyard.’

Please note this will be a live presentation. A revamped Zoom capability is under construction for future meetings. It is hoped the audio can be recorded and distributed as a link.

All details of the presentation are at the end of this edition and upfront tomorrow.

 

**Friday, September 15, was a good day for Barb Curlew in Waterside. She spotted a Curlew Sandpiper on the beach as the day was ebbing. This is an old-world sandpiper and a very rare visitor to New Brunswick, which few of us have on our New Brunswick list. Barb rushed in to confirm identification and get the word out, but unfortunately, it has not been relocated. That does not mean that it is not still in the area with the huge area it could be in. Checking every shorebird is definitely indicated!

Barb also had a morning visit from a Baltimore Oriole in their yard for about 5 minutes, and then it was gone. 

On September 17th in the afternoon, a Viceroy Butterfly landed on the Butterfly Bush that they had planted last year.

 

**Caterpillars are really ‘rolling in’!

Sue Richards has a Canna planted in a container in their home. She noticed the leaves were chewed, and there were droppings (frass) on the table it sat on.  She spotted the forager, a Hickory Tussock Moth Caterpillar, noting its contrasting white body with black tufts.
(Editor’s note: sensitive persons get rashes and associated itching when exposed to the hairs (setae) of this sharply dressed caterpillar.)

**Yolande LeBlanc follows up with a Galium Sphinx Moth Caterpillar, a.k.a. Bedstraw Sphinx.
(Editor’s note: this caterpillar is very variable, but Yolande’s photo is the most common form. If placed in an aquarium style of container with several inches of earth on the bottom, the caterpillar will go into its pupal cocoon stage and overwinter to emerge as a beautiful large moth in the spring, providing the caterpillar\cocoon has not been parasitized. It must be kept in the cold, preferably outside.)
 

**Jane and Ed LeBlanc in St. Martins took their dog for a walk Sunday morning and heard many birds. A Red-eyed Vireo posed for a photo, but the Blue-headed Vireo did not. 

Back home, Jane noticed the newly emerged Monarch Butterfly on the same patch of asters as well as a Red Admiral Butterfly and got some photos.

 

 ** Aldo Dorio sends photos of a group of Common Mergansers off Hay Island. Many appear to be in juvenile plumage, but Sibley points out that the adult nonbreeding female can look similar to a juvenile from July to October.
 

** Brian Stone sends a selection of shorebird photos from his mini vacation at White Point Beach Resort in N.S. last week. Last Wednesday, he walked the length of the very foggy beach and found a varied group of shorebirds busily foraging in some seaweed patches and the surrounding sandy area. Some of the birds included Ruddy Turnstone, Dunlins, Sanderlings, Short-billed Dowitchers, Semipalmated Plovers, Black-bellied Plovers, and other Sandpipers.
(Editor’s note: a beautiful collection of photos worth studying!)
 

 
 

** 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.

 

 
 

 

 

 

                      Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton

 


CURLEW SANDPIPER. SEPT 15, 2023. BARB CURLEW


BALTIMORE ORIOLE. SEPT 15, 2023. BARB CURLEW


RED EYED VIREO. SEPT. 17, 2023. JANE LEBLANC


COMMON MERGANSER. SEPT 17, 2023.  ALDO DORIO


COMMON MERGANSER. SEPT 17, 2023.  ALDO DORIO


RED ADMIRAL BUTTERFLY. SEPT. 17, 2023. JANE LEBLANC


RED ADMIRAL BUTTERFLY AND MONARCH BUTTERFLY. SEPT. 17, 2023. JANE LEBLANC


VICEROY BUTTERFLY. SEPT 15, 2023. BARB CURLEW



HICKORY TUSSOCK MOTH CATERPILLAR. SEPT. 17, 2023 SUSAN RICHARDS

 
GALIUM SPHINX MOTH CATERPILLAR AKA BEDSTRAW SPHINX MOTH. SEPT 17, 2023. YOLANDE LeBLANC


RUDDY TURNSTONE AND SANDERLING. SEPT. 13, 2023. BRIAN STONE


BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER. SEPT. 13, 2023., BRIAN STONE


BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER. SEPT. 13, 2023., BRIAN STONE


BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER. SEPT. 13, 2023., BRIAN STONE


SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER (RIGHT) AND SEMPALMATED SANDPIPER (LEFT). SEPT. 13, 2023. BRIAN STONE


DUNLIN. SEPT. 13, 2023., BRIAN STONE


DUNLIN. SEPT. 13, 2023., BRIAN STONE




SANDERLINGS AND SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS. SEPT. 13, 2023. BRIAN STONE


SANDERLINGS. SEPT. 13, 2023. BRIAN STONE


SANDERLINGS. SEPT. 13, 2023. BRIAN STONE


SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER. SEPT. 13, 2023.  BRIAN STONE


SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER. SEPT. 13, 2023.  BRIAN STONE


SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER. SEPT. 13, 2023.  BRIAN STONE


SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER. SEPT. 13, 2023.  BRIAN STONE