NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS
July 24, 2024
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JULY 24th
WEDNESDAY EVENING WALK
Location:
Salisbury Highland Park
Start
time: 6:30
Hosts:
David Miller and Lois Budd
Starting
Location: Parking area on the not-paved section at the end of MacDonald
Road. (There will be a Nature Moncton Event sign).
Directions: If you come in by the highway, take the
Salisbury exit by the Big Stop, go left, and head down 112 to our Town of
Salisbury. Take a right on Salisbury's Main Street. After the Pizza Mill, take the first left
onto MacDonald; at the end of MacDonald is a short unpaved section.
Highland
Park has something of interest in Nature for everyone. There is a wooden
platform to view the water from, benches to sit on, and a well-groomed flat
surface to enjoy our walkabout.
Some of the
birds we may see are Pied-billed Grebe, Virginia Rails, Northern Cardinals,
Cedar Waxwings, sometimes surprises such as Greater Yellowlegs, Least
Bittern, or an Eastern Kingbird. There are many milkweed plants so we
may see a Monarch Butterfly. Dragonflies are present, along with lots of
different grasses and weeds, and sometimes the pond lilies are in
bloom. Visitors in the past have noticed
yellow Horned Bladderwort water plants along with Arrowroot water
plants.
This is an
open trail with trees on the far side, a pond, and water ponds in the middle,
all raising mosquito larvae so remember your bug repellent. Don’t forget
to wear your name tag!
All are
welcome, Nature Moncton members or not.
**Maureen Girvan visited
the Dieppe marsh (Bis marsh) on Monday to see Short-billed Dowitchers, Greater
and Lesser Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper, and an Eastern Kingbird. Maureen
comments ‘It was a beautiful day’.
Maureen
also captured a nice photo of a Common Whitetail dragonfly.
**Georges
Brun spotted two Monarch butterflies near the skateboard park adjacent
to the Press Club on Assomption Blvd. in Moncton on Tuesday.
(Editor’s
note: it surely is pleasant to hear all the reports of Monarch butterflies.
They seem to be one of the most common species reported which is so different
from the 2023 season.)
Georges
also photographed an immature gull feeding at the mouth of Hall's Creek
on a prize catch. It would appear to be a late-running Gaspereau. Edmund
Redfield reports they are still appearing at the monitoring trap at Salisbury.
Georges
met two kayakers at the mouth of Hall’s Creek that had left the Belliveau
Village Wharf two hours earlier. Assume they came up with the tide which would
make for a very pleasant paddle.
**The
covered bridge on the High Marsh Road crossing the Tantramar River that many of
us travel frequently has been closed after an inspection a few weeks ago that
revealed structural integrity issues. It is believed this bridge was built
circa 1916.
Nature
Moncton
