Nature Moncton Nature News: July 22 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

July 22, 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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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

**Georges Brun spotted a bird atop a nest box near the David Williams Garden (behind Atlantic Superstore) in Riverview. Atmospheric conditions did not permit better photos but Georges got documentary photos of a House Wren.

Identification was confirmed by Gilles Belliveau. Gilles comments that he has heard reports of a nesting pair in Riverview.

**Shannon Inman photographed the strikingly coloured Ailanthus webworm moth with a nearby bee to show the scale of size.

Tony Thomas advises this moth is not uncommon in eastern North America into NB and NS but is more likely to be seen around its host plant, Tree of Heaven. However, it settled for Common Milkweed blooms in the Inman’s yard.

The editor has never seen this moth.

Shannon also got a nice photo of a Pecks Skipper, a Hologram moth, and an Unspotted Looper moth.

** Suzanne Rousseau in Sussex reports she finally had a beautiful Monarch butterfly visiting all her milkweeds. Suzanne did have one last week but it didn’t stay very long.

(Editors note: In the past, Suzanne has hosted very significant numbers of Monarch butterflies but, like many, she struck out in the summer of 2023.)

**We have only a handful of species of katydids in the Maritimes and what we have can often be identified by their unique vocalization (stridulation for insects). However, Fred Dube came across a unique one in their campground in Pictou, NS which happens to be in an Oak forest.

This katydid is appropriately named the Oak-bush Katydid a.k.a. Drumming Katydid (Meconema thalassinum). This species communicates through substrate vibration rather than airborne sound, a unique approach amongst its katydid kin. This feature gives it the second common name of Drumming Katydid. It is a native to Europe but has been introduced to North America and I suspect it is not common here as yet but stand be corrected.

**Sterling Marsh visited the Sackville Waterfowl Park on Saturday to get a pleasant photograph of four ducklings relaxing on a log in the sun. A female American Wigeon was nearby.

Sterling also photographed a Common Whitetail dragonfly and a Twelve-spotted Skimmer dragonfly on Sunday.

On Thursday. Nelson Poirier and Brian Stone joined the Josselyn Botanical Society (Maine based) on Campobello Island for a field trip to the Eagle Hill Bog Trail, a nearby beach perusal, and a visit to Liberty Point.

The ferry ride to Deer Island and on to Campobello Island was a foggy affair but offered photos of Razorbills, one with a chick, Common Murres, Black Guillemots, Double-crested Cormorants, Bonaparte's Gulls, and some very distant Harbour Seals.

Driving across Deer Island was an education on how the island got its name, as many White-tailed Deer (approximately 20 in a half-hour drive) were seen crossing the road and foraging beside the road. It was very early morning with less seen on the return trip later in the day.

As the bog walk on Campobello Island started, so did the rain and all were well soaked by the time the end of the boardwalk trail was in sight. Many interesting bog plants and beachside plants were seen. Among the many Evening Primrose plants that were examined, finally two of them were found to have Primrose Moths tucked in nicely to the primrose blooms, one actually having two moths in one flower. What a bonus.

(Editor’s note: the Evening Primrose and the Primrose moth have a very significant relationship. The host plant of the Primrose moth is the Evening Primrose and lays its eggs within the blossoms. The larval caterpillars hatch and feed on the plant stem looking so much like the seedpods that one has to stare at them to tell the difference. Nuggets of black frass (poop) is a helpful clue to larval caterpillar presence.)

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

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