Nature Moncton Nature News: July 9 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

July 9, 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

To respond by e-mail, please address your message to the information line editor, nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com .

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.

For more information on Nature Moncton, check the website at www.naturemoncton.com .

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

**The write-up for tomorrow’s Nature Moncton Wednesday night walk is below:

JULY 10^th WEDNESDAY EVENING WALK

Location: Mill Creek Trail (Riverview)

Start time: 6:30

Host: Wendy Sullivan

Starting Location: The Mill Creek Nature Park Runneymeade parking lot, just off Bridgedale Blvd. There will be a Nature Moncton sign at the parking lot.

The trail will be wide, fine gravel paths. The walk will take approximately 1 ½ hours and will be mainly easy except for a few stairs at the dam spillway.

Bug spray and protective clothing are recommended. Don’t forget to wear your name tag too!

All are welcome, Nature Moncton members or not.

**It’s short notice but Jenna Knorr from Nature NB advises of the attached presentation happening tonight.

EVENT: Nighthawks & Nightcaps

Greetings, Nature Clubs! Get ready for an evening with Nature NB and Birds Canada Atlantic & Québec as we dive into the world of the Common Nighthawk and its vital conservation efforts. Join us July 9th at Maybee Brewing Company in Fredericton at 7 PM for a presentation, followed by an update on the Canadian Nightjar Survey’s new routes in Fredericton and Waasis. Mark your calendars — and if the skies aren’t clear, we’ve set a rain date for July 10th!

This event is made possible thanks to funding from the Government of New Brunswick Environmental Trust Fund. Please share this notice with your Club members

** Deana and Peter Gadd returned to the mainland from Grand Manan on the afternoon of Monday July 8 on the ferry Grand Manan 5. The fog had lifted and the sky was blue; things were looking up after a couple of typical days of weather on the island!! To their surprise, a large dark bird was seen harassing an even slightly larger bird, a Herring Gull "to steal its food". The bully in this case turned out to be a South Polar Skua -- a regular but not often seen summer visitor to the Bay of Fundy and the North Atlantic, a long way from its breeding grounds in Antarctica! A little later a large “raft” of Great Shearwaters (about 60 in number) was spotted. This is another pelagic bird that also breeds on four small islands off the South American Coast but enjoys its winter season in the northern hemisphere. A Common Murre was also spotted on the voyage.

Earlier in the day at Castalia Marsh a small flock of 19 Short-billed Dowitchers were spotted, in the company of six peeps, four Semipalmated Sandpipers, and two Least Sandpipers. The first shorebirds to return south from the north are often those that fail to breed or females who leave the dads in charge of the young ones.

**Jane Aikman had a fresh specimen of the big and beautiful Modest Sphinx moth day perch in her Moncton yard on Monday.

Jane’s photo is an open wing photo that shows the large spots on the hind wing designed to scare off predators!

**On Sunday Brian Stone went for a butterfly walk behind Crandall University and at the Gorge Rd. offramp milkweed patch. The weather wasn't very butterfly friendly but Brian managed to get some photos anyway. Some photos from there will come later, but a Hummingbird Clearwing moth nectaring at the milkweed patch and some of the many Virginia Ctenucha moths doing the same made the cut Sunday.

On Monday though, it was a different story. The weather was hot, sunny and steamy and the butterflies, and other heat-loving things, were out in good numbers. Brian found many photo subjects and some sent today are Great Spangled Fritillary butterflies, Atlantis Fritillary butterflies, Mourning Cloak butterfly, Viceroy butterfly, an Eyed Brown butterfly, a female Dun Skipper, and a Two-spotted Skipper. Also photographed were a Variable Dancer damselfly, a male Common Whitetail dragonfly, a female Ebony Jewelwing damselfly, and a Twelve-spotted Skimmer dragonfly.

(Editor’s note: note the distinct white line at the base of the wing in Brian’s photo of the Two-spotted Skipper that is a signature field mark.)

A nice gift for Brian was a Say's Cicada that flew into a small sapling beside him and stayed long enough for a photo. He was a bit saddened to see a fritillary butterfly having been captured by a large Crab Spider, but the spider must have been happy to have caught such a great prey item.

**Nelson Poirier has had a lot of activity around his camp Common Milkweed patch during the day and under the moth light at night.

Monday’s visitors to the milkweed patch included Milbert’s Tortoiseshell butterfly, Question Mark Butterfly, Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly, and Canadian Tiger Swallowtail, but still waiting for the first Monarch butterfly to appear.

The night visitors have included an array of the large sphinx moths including the Laurel Sphinx, the Great Ash Sphinx, and the Waved Sphinx.

Another interesting nocturnal visitor has been the Dobsonfly. These insects can be very large, up to 100 mm, with four large membranous wings. They are nocturnal and attracted to light. The adults in the photographs are short-lived and do not feed with most of their life cycles underwater. They are weak floppy flyers and easy to spot during their short water breeding mission.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nature Moncton