Nature Moncton Nature News: July 17 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

July 17, 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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**This week’s Nature Moncton Wednesday walk is tonight with the destination and write-up below:

JULY 17^th WEDNESDAY EVENING WALK

Location: Victoria Park

Start time: 6:30

Host: Dan Hicks

Starting Location: The Cenotaph, Victoria Park, 223 Weldon St.

Join us on a guided tour of trees planted by the City of Moncton, seeing interesting trees in Victoria Park. Trees may be interesting due to form, species and cultivar or just simply great specimens in the right location. There are also a few trees that have interesting stories behind them as well.

Don’t forget to wear your name tag! All are welcome, Nature Moncton members or not.

**With lots of folks planting milkweed in their yards, lots more than Monarch butterflies are appreciative.

Norbert Dupuis had a Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly cooperate nicely for a photograph on his milkweed patch.

**Lisa Morris had a surprise group of plants appear in her garden box earlier in the spring that we couldn’t identify. A mystery no longer as the beautiful bright blooms of Chicory burst forth this week. Possibly planted for Lisa by a visiting bird patron.

Lisa also photographed Flower Flies enjoying her blooming roses. These flies, of which we have several species, do an excellent job of mimicking wasps to avoid would-be predators. They also get the common name of Hover Flies due to their hovering manner of flight.

**Hens and Chicks is a very popular cultivar plant. It’s not often we see them in blazing bloom which happened for Verica LeBlanc.

**On Monday Brian Stone checked out Highland Park in Salisbury and Wilson Marsh and sends some photos of the abundant life he found that was willing to pose for the camera. In Highland Park several young Pied-billed Grebes were relaxing in the water, looking well-fed. Some dragonflies noted were Twelve-spotted Skimmer dragonfly, a Meadowhawk dragonfly, and a Common Whitetail dragonfly. Butterflies photographed were a Northern Pearly-eye butterfly, a Northern Azure butterfly, and a Cabbage White butterfly.

At Wilson Marsh Brian checked in on the rare Sedge Wren and found him in the same spot to get a safely distant photo of him perching on a stem as he checked out the photographer. A Marsh Wren called loudly and constantly from some reeds close beside the trail but refused to show itself preferring to remain anonymous. A Virginia Rail paused its wanderings on the edge of a wet ditch long enough to get captured by the camera and as Brian snapped those photos an American Bittern flew up from a ditch further along and flew past voicing its displeasure at being disturbed.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nature Moncton