Nature Moncton Nature News: April 18 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

April 18, 2024

Nature Moncton members as well as any naturalist in New Brunswick or beyond are invited to share their photos and descriptions of recent nature sightings to build a fresh (almost) daily edition of Nature News

To respond by e-mail, please address your message to the information line editor, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com .

Please advise both the editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com and the proofreader nicholsl@eastlink.ca if any errors are noted in wording or photo labelling.

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Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

The live feed to the Peregrine Falcon nest box camera can be accessed at https://www.zoodemagnetichillzoo.ca/nest-cam

**Lance Harris visited Highland Park in Salisbury and noted a community of Muskrats very actively foraging on what appeared to be old-growth cattails but one can be assured that the emerging roots were fresh and very delectable to muskrats.

(Editor's note: the cattail root/shoot is a popular spring edible with some folks, often compared to asparagus. The editor has sampled this in restaurants but asparagus wins the contest in his opinion!)

** Shannon Inman's photo of a Red-belted Polypore mushroom did not insert in the photo lineup in yesterday’s edition. I am adding it today as it is an excellent photo to recognize this mushroom species.

**The very pleasant Bloodroot plant is one of our spring ephemeral plants that are suddenly starting to burst into beautiful bloom at the moment and will soon disappear completely above ground level and not be seen until this time next spring.

Gart Bishop shares a photo of a Bloodroot he noted on the banks of the Kennebecasis River just below their house in Apohaqui. He had searched the day before and could find no evidence of them, so the photo indicates one day's growth, which is notably impressive.

The Bloodroot leaves will fold over the flower on cool nights and cloudy days to protect it, bursting forth when the Sun shines.

**On Wednesday, after a photo shoot with a mosquito on his back deck, Brian Stone drove to Memramcook to check out the Arthur St./Grand Pre St. lagoon for any new arrivals. He found it to still be populated by mainly large numbers of Ring-necked Ducks with some scaup (too distant to ID), a couple of Gadwall Ducks, one pair of Northern Pintail Ducks, and several Black Scoters.

After Memramcook, Brian stopped in at Mapleton Park and increased his photo numbers with Canada Geese, Black-capped Chickadees, and Song Sparrows.

Brian had a tie for "bird of the day" with a colourful male Wood Duck and a curious male Ruby-crowned Kinglet at the main pond. We don't often get to see that small patch of red on the crown of the male bird.

Also at the main pond, Brian noticed the large, bright pink flowering Daphne shrub (Daphne mezereum).

(Editor’s note: this plant was brought from Europe by early settlers due to the brilliant floral show it produces in very early spring and is therefore sometimes found around old homesteads. It produces a bright red cluster of berries. Unfortunately, both the flowers and berries are toxic to humans.)

Brian shares a link below on this plant that is not cultivated today due to its toxic principles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daphne_mezereum

Also at Mapleton Park, Brian photographed the newly opening buds of the Red Elderberry plant and saw that the Beaver dam on Hall's Creek near the Gorge Rd entrance had a breached section that was causing a strong rush of water that was eroding a large scoop out of the side of the bank beside it.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nature Moncton