Nature Moncton Nature News: August 4 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

August 4, 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.

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Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

**On Friday and Saturday Brian Stone visited Sackville Waterfowl Park and noticed two Pied-billed Grebe nest pads not far from the wooden boardwalk, one with young chicks recently hatched and one nest still containing as yet unhatched eggs. The older group were following their parents around in the water and riding on their backs at times and the younger group had only two chicks hatched so far and they seemed almost too small to swim any distance.

(Editor’s note: the literature suggests that the Pied-billed Grebe can have 1-2 broods per season. The timing would suggest Brian encountered a second brood.)

On the other side of the loop trail, Brian managed to capture a quick photo of one of three Virginia Rail chicks that scurried across the trail following their parent to greener pastures.

One of four very active Belted Kingfishers stopped to rest on a nest box and a female Northern Cardinal also took a short break on a tree limb. A few Yellow warblers were silently moving through the trees and several Northern Pearly-Eye butterflies flew up and down the trails only landing once for a photo.

**All of us have been seeing lots of male Red-winged blackbirds this summer but only occasionally seeing their female counterparts who have been busy caring for nests. The nesting period is now ending and the much more conservatively dressed female Red-winged blackbirds are dropping by feeders.

Nelson Poirier shares a few photos of the sudden arrival of gals at a feeder tray.

Nelson also takes note of the few insects prominently showing at the moment.

The Spongy moth (formerly called Gypsy moth) adult is very prominent at the moment with the male very erratically day-flying looking like a butterfly. This species is native to Europe and introduced to North America to become invasive. The larval caterpillars feed on a wide range of hardwood and some softwood trees to make them a defoliating pest. The colourful larval caterpillar which we will soon see has hairs that can cause skin irritation if handled by humans. The female is flightless and will lay egg masses, which are a tanned yellow covered with fuzz, on outdoor items. They can be scraped off when found and put in a bleach solution for a few days to stop reproduction.

The adults do not feed and live for only a few weeks performing their mating mission.

Also photographed was the Yellow-coloured Scape moth which can be a day flyer easily confused with the Virginia Ctenucha. Note only the collar is coloured to give it its name.

The Poplar Borer beetle was photographed. This beetle bores into the wood of poplar and willow trees.

The sharply dressed Black-rimmed Prominent moth was photographed. This insect also has a taste for poplar and willow as well but feeds on the foliage.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nature Moncton