Nature Moncton Nature News: August 18 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

August 18, 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 the editor at nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com if any errors are noted in wording or photo labelling.

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Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

**It’s that time of year when caution is indicated around wasp/yellowjacket/Vespidae known nest sites because if irritated, they can deliver painful stings or more serious consequences should an individual be hypersensitive. They also can be attracted to sweet things such as jams, sweet drinks, and the like.

After a few killing frosts, all members of the hive will be off to heaven except the Queen who will seek a protected place to overwinter and start a new hive in the spring.

**Barbara Smith recently returned from a three-week trip to Ontario. She felt fortunate to spend time with her friend and turtle champion Nicole Dufort at her cottage in the Kawartha Lakes region. Nicole has spent many years helping people to learn about turtles and the crucial wetlands that support them, as well as the threats turtles are facing from human activity, which include habitat destruction and being run over by cars as they try to get to and from their nesting areas. She has held information sessions on turtles, written about them, rescued them, and donated and raised thousands of dollars for the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre in Peterborough, Ontario. The site has lots of information about turtles and how we humans can help them. It's worth checking out: https://ontarioturtle.ca/

Nicole's interest in turtles has recently been extended to citizen science projects in Trinidad to help sea turtles, which have been tracked to the oceans of Atlantic Canada.

(Editor’s note: the first Nature Moncton presentation of the year in September will be on sea turtles.)

On her way to Nicole's cottage, Barbara was able to help a Painted Turtle cross the road safely. (Barbara was sure it was relieved but it’s facial expression didn't show it!) And then on a bike ride at the cottage, Nicole and Barbara helped another Painted Turtle cross the road and get down a steep embankment to water.

**Aldo Dorio has again photographed Short-tailed Swallowtail butterflies at Hay Island which is part of their limited worldwide range. The specimens photographed appear to be worn making it likely that their relatively short mating and egg-laying mission is near its end. They also appear not to be on their expected food plants.

**Georges Brun was able to capture a cooperative photo of a beautiful dragonfly that we don't often see that just happened to fly and drop on the boardwalk down by the Chateau Moncton -- the Black-shouldered Spinyleg dragonfly.

Georges comments that, with low water levels at Bis Marsh in Dieppe, shorebirds are very numerous along with Great Blue Herons (~20) and various waterfowl. The diversity makes for a good nearby birding spot.

**Jane and Ed LeBlanc were visiting a lake near St. Martins and found a garden full of butterflies, including two Hummingbird-clearwing moths and a Viceroy butterfly. A pair of Common Loons on the lake did not stop for photos.

**Maureen Girvan photographed what appears to be a colourful stink bug of uncertain species. We have many species of stink bugs that are surprisingly colourful while others are quite drab. They all like to excrete a noxious liquid if handled to give them their unflattering name.

**On Wednesday Brian Stone joined Nelson Poirier on an outing to the Cocagne Arena pollinator garden in search of butterflies. He sends photos from the day showing an immature American Robin ( taken at home before leaving), a Fall Webworm Moth caterpillar, a large and striking Great Black Digger Wasp, an Osprey flying and one on a nest, some camouflaged Primrose Moth caterpillars, and one of several Wandering Glider dragonflies that was the only one cooperative enough to perch for a photo.

Their target butterfly (Common Buckeye) was not relocated but butterflies seen were dozens of Clouded Sulphur butterflies, several Common Ringlet butterflies, a couple of Common Wood-nymph butterflies, and many Northern Crescent butterflies that did not make it to the photo lineup.

A second stop on that day at the Cormierville Marsh added photos of some distant shorebirds, a pair of Short-billed Dowitchers coming in for a landing, a couple of young looking Semipalmated Plovers, and a flyover by an American Kestrel that got the shorebirds hopping.

Brian also includes a photo of a Pied-billed Grebe, taken in one of the Sackville Retention Ponds on the Wednesday night walk.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton