Nature Moncton Nature News: August 24 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

August 24, 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.

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

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

**The juvenile Little Blue Heron that arrived to check out the Miramichi Marsh earlier in the week appears to be finding the area very much to its liking.

On Friday, Peter and Deana Gadd checked on the heron that has spent the week at Miramichi Marsh, to the delight of a number of birders. It was hunting Friday afternoon in the shallow water just on the other side of the berm of the pond, on the northwest corner.

It was able to snatch in quick succession a couple of transitioning froglets as well as a few dragonflies.
What was noticeable was the movement of the heron’s head from side to side prior to a ‘snatch’ from the water. This is presumably a technique to gauge the prey's position considering the refraction of light. This behaviour can be seen in the video link below, commissioned by Deana:

juvenile Little Blue Heron Hunting | Peter Gadd | Flickr

(Editor’s note: it is interesting to note the galloping gourmet diet of this species that we don’t often see to include even dragonflies!

Peter’s video capture is truly amazing to watch.)

**John Inman photographed a pair of raptors soaring very high in the Harvey area on Friday to get a long-distance photograph. One was a juvenile Broad-winged Hawk. John's photo shows it to be clearly a juvenile bird as the tail bands are much more narrow and numerous than in an adult. The second nearby soaring raptor was a juvenile Bald Eagle.

John also had a White-throated Sparrow come to his Harvey yard showing a growth below its eye. It seemed to get about and feed alright.

**Black-bellied Plovers have arrived to Hay Island. Aldo Dorio photographed one on Friday that is still showing remnants of breeding plumage.

**A cultivar tree that is commonly noted at this time of year is the Amer Maple. This tree is often seen in parks and public areas. It produces its samara much later than our native maples and they can be noted at the moment turning bright red in numerous clusters. Nelson Poirier adds a photo showing the clumps of samara taking on their red coloration.

**The Fall Webworm moth caterpillars are very noticeable at the moment encasing sections of tree branches with their chaotic nests/tents. They tend to stay in their nests consuming the foliage they have surrounded. However, we can see them singly moving about when they set off to pupate. Nelson Poirier adds a photo of a few of them that show their variability as instars progress. They are easy to distinguish from the Ugly Nest caterpillar we saw with similar nests earlier. The Fall Webworm caterpillars are hairy whereas the Ugly Nest caterpillars lack this hairiness.

**We all occasionally find butterfly and moth chrysalids/cocoons this time of year. It is very rewarding to collect them and place them in an area protected from predators and watch them hatch from their pupal stage to adult and release them.

Nelson Poirier saw a collapsible net cage Louis-Emile Cormier was using at their amazing pollinator garden at the Cocagne arena. He found the source and purchased one and a Monarch Butterfly chrysalis he found is in that cage attached by a thread from the top going through the process of maturing to adult butterfly release.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nelson Poirier

Nature Moncton