NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS
May 12,
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
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by e-mail, please address your message to the information line editor, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com .
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The live feed to the
Peregrine Falcon nest box camera can be accessed at https://www.zoodemagnetichillzoo.ca/nest-cam
** John Inman was able to photograph a Merlin on a
female Red-winged Blackbird prey.
Shannon Inman went to Lars Larsen
Marsh to check things out and on the lookout roof, a Lesser Yellowlegs was
doing the same thing.
(Editor’s note: I am labeling this bird a Lesser Yellowlegs over Greater Yellowlegs due to the seemingly straight
shorter bill, dove-like feature of the head, paler breast area, and a generally
petite appearance. The editor stands to be corrected so we all can learn.)
**Cathy Simon reports that a male Yellow-bellied
Sapsucker was spotted for the first time in her yard in Lutes Mountain. The
male seemed to really enjoy the sound he created when tapping on the metal armrest
of her lawn furniture and returned to tapping on this spot several times during
the day. Perhaps he was trying to outdo the male Hairy Woodpecker who taps on
the metal chimney cap at 5 AM each morning!
**Maureen Girvan visited the Dieppe
Biss Marsh on Saturday and was surprised to find one duckling traveling about
by itself without siblings or a mother.
**Round-lobed Hepatica is one
of the earlier native flowers to bloom in the spring. Its three-lobed leaves do
not appear until the plant has flowered. This is a large violet-sized plant
with very hairy stalks as a consistent feature, assumedly to ward off the cold
of early spring.
Nelson Poirier visits a cedar bog in
Halcomb near Miramichi a few times each spring. There is one small spot in that bog that sports
Round-lobed Hepatica in abundance each year as the first blooming flower.
Approximately 10 days later, the now rare orchid Calypso is sometimes found in small
numbers, and after that Yellow Lady’s Slipper can be found.
Red Trillium was also preparing to bloom. Note
the large leaves with no petiole when comparing it to Painted Trillium.
A female Pileated Woodpecker
kept an eye on the interloper from its near-ground foraging site.
Nature Moncton
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