NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS
June 20, 2024
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The live feed to the Peregrine Falcon nest box camera can be accessed at
https://www.zoodemagnetichillzoo.ca/nest-cam
**Thank you to Gordon Rattray for leading the first Wednesday night walk. Attendance was low due to the heat wave but it was surprisingly comfortable under the overhead tree canopy. Four pairs of eyes missed little and photos of observations will follow.
It was pleasant to have Janice Tilley join us from the group WOW (Women of the Wilderness).
A colourful Black-shouldered Spinyleg dragonfly posed nicely for Anita in her garden as well as the beautiful large Luna Moth that was hanging about two inches off of the ground on a very small tree about six feet from their house in the woods.
“This is a
Black-shouldered Spinyleg, a member of the Clubtail family.
The pattern
on the front of the thorax combined with the mostly solid colour on the side of
the thorax is distinctive for this species
making it difficult to confuse with other species.
Immature
individuals have yellow markings like this one while mature individuals have
grayish-blue markings instead of the yellow we see here.”
(Editor's note: we rarely get photos of the Black-shouldered Spinyleg dragonfly. Note Anita's photo closely to be able to call it by name should we come across this dragonfly in the future.)
**Leigh Eaton was surprised
to see three Peregrine Falcon fledglings at the nest box at 2:25 pm
Wednesday and sends screenshots. They sure mature quickly as it seems like
yesterday they were just eggs.
They all appeared
to be very sleepy, intermittently closing eyes for lengthy periods.
(Editor's note: later in the day all four fledglings appeared in the nest box; however, it was empty Thursday morning. We are learning a great deal that we were unaware of before about the goings and comings of this family.)
** Richard Blacquiere comments, “I just wanted to congratulate all involved in the Peregrine nest box project, and the great idea of installing the nest cam. The video feed was amazingly clear. I know it’s taken a few years to make it happen. With the success this year, I hope the project can continue into the future.
I also wanted to let you know that
the Nature Moncton branded nest boxes placed around the Hampton sewage lagoon
this spring have also been a great success. Many of the boxes have been
occupied, and the birds seem to have grown accustomed to the many people and
dogs that walk past every day. Recently, the swallows have been very busy
bringing food to the growing nestlings.
Interesting to note that a
pair of Black-capped Chickadees have taken over one of the boxes. They’re
bringing food now, too. Also, there are a couple of Moncton boxes at the
Hampton Community Garden along with some others of similar design. Recently, an
Eastern Bluebird has been seen and heard at the Garden. No evidence that Eastern
Bluebirds are nesting there yet, but we remain hopeful.”
**Lynn Dube
photographed a stink bug species that greeted them on their front door
on Tuesday night.
We have
several species of stink bug in New Brunswick and all will excrete a
foul-smelling liquid if threatened.
**John
Massey got quite a surprise when he visited Amherst Point Bird Sanctuary on
Wednesday to find an assumed domestic goose in company with the Canada
geese.
Nature Moncton
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