Nature Moncton Nature News: June 2 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

June 2, 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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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

**On Wednesday, Peter Gadd photographed a newborn clutch of Pied-billed Grebes (from a very appropriate long-distance) still on the nest. The young with “painted faces”, could be riding on the back of a parent or be seen racing across the water to be the first to reach a surfacing parent offering food soon.

**Jane LeBlanc spent two mornings at the Irving Nature Park in west Saint John, once with hikers and once with the Saint John Naturalist Club. Lots of birds were seen but only a few were photographed, including a Great Blue Heron, Yellow Warbler, Northern Parula, and American Redstart. The naturalist club outing she believes saw 45 species.

**Aldo Dorio photographed an immature Bald Eagle on prey at Hay Island which Aldo indicated was a large fish.

Aldo also photographed Cedar Waxwings enjoying the petals of the apple blossoms. This is a common behaviour of the Cedar Waxwing.

**Tony Thomas spent a few hours Saturday morning, June 1 2024, looking for ants and found a few interesting ant 'nests'. Several species are very similar and form species groups or complexes. Fortunately, a few of these are most easily recognized by their nests. In the case of Wood Ants (genus Formica) two similar black species have distinctively different nests. In both species much of the nest is underground and the size of the underground portion exactly equals the amount of soil the ants have transported above ground. The Ice Mound Ant (Formica glacialis) makes high mounds; the one Tony found was about 18 inches tall. The Silky Field Ant (Formica subsericea) makes flat mounds; this one was about one meter wide. Lots of soil was moved by both species.

In the so-called "Fuzzy Ants" (genus Lasius), one species The Turfgrass Ant (Lasius neoniger) makes small underground nests and deposits the soil into little volcanoes, about two inches in diameter. These nests always seem to be on bare earth, those today on the gravel on the side of a road. You can also see these nests on cracks in the sidewalk and on gravel paths.

**On Wednesday last week Brian Stone drove to the gypsum mining area behind the White Rock Recreational Area in Hillsborough to look for butterflies and whatever else might be present.

He had a fair amount of success with butterflies finding several Silvery Blue Butterflies, Northern Cloudywing Skipper Butterflies, Hobomok Skipper Butterflies, Dreamy Duskywing Skipper Butterflies, Red Admiral Butterflies, Clouded Sulphur Butterflies, and a pair of mating Cabbage White Butterflies. A Chalk-fronted Corporal Dragonfly posed conveniently to add a little variety to the lineup.

Brian was able to photograph 2 sandpiper species that we are not used to seeing in the spring in New Brunswick: a Sanderling and a Semipalmated Sandpiper in the same photo frame. These were photographed at the Waterside Beach in Albert County.

**Barbara Smith looked out her front door Saturday afternoon and saw a small pile of debris on their front walk. She went to dispose of it and when she picked it up, Barbara was alarmed to see it was a nest. She has no idea where it came from. It seems to have been quite carefully constructed. The inside is soft and cozy and appears to be lined with hair. Her husband cuts his own hair with clippers and tosses the stuff in the backyard. She wonders whether some of it made it into this nest. Barbara thought seeing this nest might encourage some of the Nature Moncton folk who cut their clean, undyed hair to put it out for the birds too.

The Smiths have two cats that get groomed daily and they considered putting their fur out for the birds too. But when they Googled "Will birds use cat fur in their nests?" one site warned against it if the pets are treated with topical medications for fleas and ticks, as some pesticides are deadly to birds. So, she won't be putting their fur out for now. However, she has resolved to collect their fur over the winter months, when they aren't treated with Revolution, and put it out next spring. They think the cats would be very happy to know that they are helping the birds they so enjoy watching.

The nest measures 6 inches across at its widest and 4 inches deep, and the depression in the middle is 2 inches across and 2 inches deep. A photo of it is attached beside an emerging Hosta plant to show scale. The nest does seem to have specific construction and any thoughts/comments on the species constructing it would be appreciated.

**Eighteen Nature Moncton members and staff from the Fundy Biosphere Region planted trees on the Moncton Riverfront over the former landfill site. The team worked through strong wind, a little sun, dark clouds, and some cold rain. However, the rocky terrain was the most challenging to find a suitable spot to dig! Nevertheless, they persevered and planted approximately 1500 seedlings! Thank you to everyone who helped out. Hopefully, in 15 years time, we can enjoy some tall, strong trees in that area that will benefit wildlife and clean our air.

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